Hey guys and gals. So what’s all this SOPA stuff everyone is talking about? Why are so many sites taking a stand on January 18th in regards to SOPA?
In a nutshell, it’s pure Government censorship?
Remember when we used to joke at China censoring the web? Well, this is worse.
SOPA is technical stuff you might not think matters to you. But if you use the Internet in any fashion, whether to get news or buy merchandise or just look at pictures or just use Facebook, the way you will do this will be changed forever.
The Government wants to pass new laws to protect online piracy. Unfortunate, the people writing this bill (your politicians) have no idea how the Internet works. It’s like asking your grandad to set up a router and modem for you when you know they barely know how to turn on a computer.
The bill is backed by big money with such Hollywood giants as the movie studio who are wanting to extradite, punish and shut down any site they see is a threat. And the vague law will allow them to do so with little or no proof.
The fate of the world of the Internet shouldn’t rest in the hands of people blindly taking money from big money in Hollywood and the media who are out to create a world of censorship.
This bill, The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is extremely dangerous to our future. It is flat-out the most Orwellian act of politics to surface in our generation and is so evil it makes me cringe that the bill has even gotten this far.
The bill will indirectly shut down sites like Google and Facebook and Tumblr and Twitter. It will force an unjustified responsibility on people who make up your daily blogs and sites. People will begin to serve jail time and be Federally prosecuted for acts of opinion and free speech.
We’re not talking about piracy anymore. We’re talking about the fact that I could face criminal charges for someone’s YouTube video I link to. Think about that. Something I link to. Not even embed or load myself. I could serve jail time and have a criminal record for tossing a link to a funny video of a cat dancing and Universal music claims copywrite for a poster in the background of the video and 3 dozen people face criminal charges.
To put it another way, imagine you are riding in a car with a friend driving and get pulled over for speeding 3 miles over the limit. Now imagine you all get fined and go to jail because it is your responsibility, whether you knew or not, that your friend was speeding. Just because you were in the car, maybe in the backsleep taking a nap, you could be a criminal.
Doesn’t sound right, does it?
SOPA isn’t just about censorship. It’s about the destruction of technological jobs and free speech. But sadly, these will not die with the passage of SOPA. They will just leave the U.S.
I find it sad and disturbing to think that technology and Internet sites will possibly be so scared of doing business in my country that they will move elsewhere. Imagine Facebook and Google being in Canada or Europe. Image our future being stifled so bad that companies like Apple and Microsoft are so burdened with lawsuits and frivolous lawsuits that they can not longer afford to stay in our country.
Several major webites are blacking out their sites in protest of SOPA. I have personally written my Senator in regards to the issue. I hope you will consider similar actions. We are just a small site. We enjoy posting videos and writing goofy opinions and putting up pics with captions but it will be a sad day if for all of us if SOPA passes.
Please, learn more about the bill and be sure talk to your Senator about the situation.
Here is a list of sites that support SOPA.
And here is a list of sites and companies opposed to SOPA.
