SOPA and PIPA: How They Affect You

Posted on January 19, 2012

Those of you who know me know that I very rarely do any sort of political activism of any sort. I never repost links on Facebook, I don’t “like” any candidate/political party pages, and I don’t discuss politics with anyone unless the issue really matters to me.

Having said that, you may have noticed this site was blacked out on January 18th.

You may have also noticed that a few of the top sites on the internet like Google, Amazon, Reddit, and Wikipedia did the exact same thing. This universal blackout, which was conceived on Reddit as a strike of S.O.P.A., was enacted to protest the passage of a new bill currently being considered in Congress, a bill which would give authority figures the power to censor the internet if they decide any website contained material infringing upon a copyright. This effectively gives corporations the ability to censor citizens. Corporations, while vital to economic growth, are not government. The problem of copyright infringement is one that must be addressed, but SOPA and PIPA approach the issue from the wrong direction and raise more concerns than they address.

The current logo will stay up until SOPA has been voted upon on January 24th. Until then, head over to Google’s SOPA/PIPA Page to find out what to do to help shut down this dangerous piece of legislation.