Today, January 18th, 2012, thousands of websites including our own have gone dark to pretest SOPA and PIPA, two bills being considered by Congress that threaten online expression and free speech. Take a look at Wikipedia (pictured above) or Google (pictured in the feature image) and how they are protesting this impending legislation.
In an effort to keep people from illegally downloading music and videos, the entertainment industry (who overwhelmingly supports both bills) wants to shut down any access that even smells of violating copyright laws. Taken to the extreme (and these bills have ambiguous language that could allow a court to do so) sites such as Youtube, Twitter, Wikipedia, and yes, even Facebook could be shut down because users post copyrighted materials. The law even has remedies that bypass the courts and allow the government to shut down websites without a trial or court hearing, something patently un-American.
Consider the last time you looked at your Facebook timeline. How many songs or videos were posted by friends? How many photos of movies or art were posted with funny captions? All of these can be deemed a violation of copyright law and the owners of these pieces of art can use this new law to shut down offending sites….all in the name of preventing piracy (in which there are already strict laws for offenders on the books). You could even be sued for posting a video on Youtube where a song playing in the background is copyrighted. Fact….every time you sing “Happy Birthday To You”, you are violating copyright law by not pay royalties to the music publisher. (copyrighted through 2030 by current law)
These bills will not stop the most blatant pirates, but will wreak havoc on the American internet community by forcing them to take down even the most benign photos, songs, and videos based on even the slightest inference of infringement. Please research these pending legislations and consider the damage they will do the internet as you know it if passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Please contact your Congressional representative and Senator and ask them to oppose and stop this legislation today.
For more information click any of the links below:
