For me, it all started with a phone call.

It was way back in September 2010, when I got a phone call from my friend Peter.

“Aaron,” he said. “There’s an amazing bill you have to take a look at.”

“What is it?” I said.

“It’s called COICA. The Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeiting Act.”

“Oh, Peter,” I said. “I don’t care about copyright law. Maybe you’re right, maybe Hollywood is right, but either way is it really such a big deal? I’m not going to waste my life fighting over a little issue like copyright. Health care. Financial reform. Those are the sorts of issues I work on. Not something obscure like copyright.”

Read the full excerpt at Buzzfeed.