Most of you know that today, January 18, is a national day of protest against SOPA and PIPA. Although SOPA is now DOA, and I see no way that PIPA can survive the promised filibuster by my Senator, Ron Wyden (D-OR), I am happy to join in that protest until the last nail is in PIPA’s coffin.
Do not try to look up “Internet Censorship” or “SOPA” or “PIPA” on Wikipedia, the giant online encyclopedia, on Wednesday. SOPA and PIPA are two bills in Congress meant to stop the illegal copying and sharing of movies and music on the Internet, but major Internet companies say the bills would put them in the impossible position of policing the online world.
Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says his site will go dark for the day on Wednesday, joining a budding movement to protest the two bills.
“This is going to be wow,” Wales said on Twitter. “I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!”
Several sources said members of Congress, reacting to the online objections, were pulling back on parts of SOPA and PIPA to which Internet companies object. But the protest movement continued for the time being.
Click Here for More: SOPA and PIPA Explained
Other sites, such as Reddit and Boing Boing, have already said they would go dark on Wednesday. And some of the biggest names online, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, have vocally opposed the proposed legislation, though they have not said they are joining the online blackout…
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The original intent of this legislation is to stifle the epidemic of intellectual property theft. Because it increased Internet censorship, Republicans jumped aboard without considering the consequences. Because the entertainment industry unions support it, Democrats jumped aboard without considering the consequences.
The consequences are that any web site that has copyrighted material or even links to another website with copyrighted material, PIPA allows government to shut down that website without notice or warning of any kind, no matter if the violation is inadvertent. For sites like You Tube, Reddit, or even Politics Plus, this puts an insurmountable burden on Webmasters to police everything visitors upload instantly or be shut down.
I have no objections to a reasonable anti-piracy law that would allow the federal government to obtain a court order to shut down a site for piracy, if the webmaster of that site is provided notification of the specific material to be removed and refuses to remove it. But PIPA is not a reasonable anti-piracy law.
Contact your Senators and Say NO to PIPA!
10 Responses to “In Opposition to PIPA”
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We agree entirely on this. While the problem is not resolved, and I have absolutely no idea (tech challenged as I am) how piracy laws might be enacted, neither of these proposals comes close to addressing the issue, but only jeopardized the ability of journalism, such as what you present here, and others depend on for safety and truth and the preservation of free speech.
Piracy is a legitimate concern, from artistic violation to computer “terrorism” (which we were the first to perpetrate hacking into and delaying Iran’s nuclear capabilities) clearly the threat is there, the question is how to regulate a technology that once again travels faster than our capacities to monitor, once again humanity seems to be revisiting a dilemma that’s all too common.
Lee, FYI the term piracy refers only to the theft of content. Hacking, is the term for what either the US or Israel had done to Iran’s nuclear program.
I am against the theft or piracy of Intellectual Property. But the means of protecting against the thefts has to be reasonable in scope and ability to comply. SOPA and PIPA are draconian and overreaching. In addition, the internet is used by people around the world, and websites around the world. To have the government close down a sight without notice or chance to set matters straight, is ridiculous.
Exactly, Lynn.
Google also joined the online black in English for their search engine.
Thanks Patty!
Daily Kos has a Recommended post up that includes screenshots of how some of websites are marking the effort to stop SOPA & PIPA – including Wikipedia, Google, Craigslist, WordPress, Gizmodo, Daily Kos, Boing Boing, Michael Moore, HuffPo, Ars Technica, F*ck Yeah Dementia, Questionable Content, Regretsy, etc.
I’ve signed the petitions and sent my Congress critters emails and FAXes to tell them to stop SOPA & PIPA … just STOP!
Thanks Nameless!
This is an attempt to place a tool of unlimited censorship in the hands of organizations, both political and commercial (although it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate between the two) and give them the power to shut down virtually any site they choose to target. I don’t for a second believe that this is a product of the law of unintended consequences. I believe that the people behind these two bills knew exactly what they were creating. The only thing they didn’t count on was the magnitude of the backlash against them once it became known what these two bills could allow.
For example. Joe Citizen has a blog that reveals some unsavory truths about a politician. Someone who would rather not have those facts out in public uploads copyrighted material into the comments section of Joe’s blog. Bingo! Instant shut-down. Consider how vengeful the Disney folks are in keeping their corporate image all bright and shiny and imagine this kind of power in their hands. Use your imagination – this is Big Brother on steroids.
The other thing they seem to have failed to consider is the fact that the U.S. doesn’t own the Internet.
John, I agree that the people behind them knew what they were doing. The unintended consequences applies to many of the Reps and Senators who co-sponsored and supported them. It goes even further. A corporate criminal could claim that anyone who criticized them had violated their intellectual property rights.