What You Should Know About Internet Censorship and SOPA
Today, as I went to Google, I saw something like this:
And good luck if you tried to go to Wikipedia. You probably saw something like this:
Why are many websites effectively shutting themselves down today? Because of two menacing-sounding abbreviations called SOPA and PIPA. Here’s a nice explanation from Wikipedia:
SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has [http//www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable] in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.
Check out this video from Google and below it one from Fight For the Future:
In short, I believe that businesses and entertainment companies should be allowed to protect their products from being pirated. However, it’s a dangerous thing when these companies are given inordinate powers to do so–effectively being able to censor what they think might prove to be a financial hindrance to them. And I don’t think it’s ever a good thing when companies are given the power to tinker with the internet. If they can do so for financial reasons, it will just be one or two more steps before they can do so just for not agreeing with your message. And that, my friends, would be the beginning of the end in every way.
UPDATE:
Seems like SOPA and PIPA may have been stopped. Check out this link from Mashable for the full explanation.
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Amazing what can happen when people agree on something. All across the internet today I was met with blackout messages. This a far cry from those who claim that the people cannot make a difference. I agree with Clay Shirky that more laws are coming to restrict internet freedoms but that doesn’t mean that we should stop speaking out against things that are unfair.
Pierre Quinn recently posted..Time To Go
Yeah, really was interesting, huh, to see everybody speaking out? Gave me hope.
SOPA has been pulled and PIPA has been postponed. Time to get PIPA pulled, however.
Carrie recently posted..Free Internet Fax Services
Yeah, we’ll see what happens, huh?
ACTA 2.0 is like a backdoor way to enact SOPA.
ACTA had move forward in Europe despite protests.
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