The US Senate will vote on the PIPA internet censorship bill on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. Even though it is a US law, its effects will be felt the world over. PIPA is the Senate version of the House’s SOPA bill.
While I agree that on-line piracy and copyright infringement by foreign websites is a problem and damaging to the economy, I don’t think censoring the Internet as a whole is the way to stop it. You may see that some of your favorite sites are dark today - they’re protesting the bill, too. Although I’m fairly certain my little speck of real estate on the World Wide Web may not be missed by anyone but me, if a law like PIPA or SOPA were to pass, the information your kid downloads from on-line encyclopedias for a school report, heck even those photos you pass around on Facebook, could get you fined and maybe jail time. Do it once, and your whole site is banned for life. A little extreme, don’t you think?
For more information, visit Stop American Censorship and http://sopastrike.com/.
Editor’s Note: Additional information, presenting both sides of the story, can be found at the following links. A big thank you to my co-Board member at Band Back Together, Dana Lu, for bringing these to my attention:
Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/as-support-for-sopa-wanes-copyright-issues-persist/2012/01/17/gIQAz9yo7P_story.html?tid=pm_business_pop
PC World article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/248298/sopa_and_pipa_just_the_facts.html
CNET article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57329001-281/how-sopa-would-affect-you-faq/
Congress, I urge you to understand the repercussions of the bills you’re voting upon, but maybe that’s just too much to ask.
