Take action to protect the Internet. Protest SOPA.

A Tech article with no comments posted 16 January 2012.
Tags: sopa

In a few days the US Sentate will consider SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act.” It will give the federal government broad powers intended to combat digital piracy.

Sounds like something a law abiding citizen would support, right? Wrong.

SOPA is written so broadly that it gives the government overreaching power to control the internet. Without a court order, internet companies can be required to monitor your web surfing and block content deemed to be infringing copyright. Say goodbye to privacy.

SOPA offers no protection to companies like YouTube, Google, Facebook, and more, which currently are protected by “safe harbor” provisions in copyright law. Right now, if infringing video is found on YouTube, the rights holder can ask YouTube to take down that video and they have a certain amount of time to comply. With SOPA, the *entire website* could be taken down without giving them a chance to comply. Did someone post a video with a copyrighted song playing on the TV in the background? Under SOPA, not just that video, but the entire website could be forced off the government without a court order.

Imagine a tool like this used as a pretense to silence political opponents. A site torn down by SOPA might be offline for months while the procedure for reinstatement is followed.

With SOPA, the United States will enter an infamous club of nations: like China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba, we will be censoring the internet. Say goodbye to the First Amendment. The US Government will have the power to take any site off the internet without due process.

In protest against SOPA, thousands of websites including Wikipedia will go offline on January 18th to show what a censored internet will be like. Mine will be among them.

Please take action against SOPA and contact your congressmen: Visit AmericanCensorship.org.