SOPA and PIPA Aren’t Just About Piracy

I am so glad that 1/18/12 is over. I can’t tell you how many websites I regularly visit weren’t functioning normally due to the SOPA/PIPA protest. These bills heading towards congress next week, SOPA and PIPA are supposed to help stop internet piracy, but their are written in such a way that it could hurt the rest of the internet, and the web would perpetually look like it did yesterday. There is a potentially good alternative to SOPA and PIPA called OPEN, check out this chart below that compares the bills:

A Full Explaination of SOPA Can Be Found on SearchEngineWatch.com

TheOatmeal.com was blacked out yesterday, but had a video running instead of their usual website (if you are easily offended do not proceed to the video in question) in the video they said “This is like dealing with a lion escaped from the zoo by blasting some kittens with a flame thrower!” There are better ways to deal with piracy than by passing a bill that is so poorly written that it could potentially shut down any website accused of copyright infringement without due process.

The lawmakers writing these bills did not have a solid understanding of the ramifications. As it has become more clear to them with the outrage over the last several days that it’s a bad thing, the SOPA train has been losing steam. Many of the supporters, even co-sponsors of the bill have withdrawn their support. Many of the Hollywood companies, Time Warner and such are backing it because they are losing millions to pirated material, they deserve a good bill that protects them and their intellectual property, but not at the cost of millions of websites and blogs that would be censored under this new legislation.

If you are in favor of an open internet without censorship make sure that your voice is heard, sign the petition and call or write an email to your congressman asking them to oppose the bill, or if they already oppose it tell them thank you.

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