On SOPA and PIPA

So, the great battle of our time has begun. It will be fault on a digital battlefield and will feature the US government and major corporations like Universal and Viacom against people of all stripes and colours all over the world. The weapons will be firewalls, website shutdowns, lawsuits and massive advertising campaigns.

The US government has drafted two pieces of legislation, SOPA and PIPA for short, that claim to target internet piracy of copyright music, movies and the like. The problem is that the legislation is way too vague and gives companies and the government power to shut down any site or Youtube video that they claim infringes on copyright in any small way. So, even if you have a link to a video that is deemed piracy on your website, the whole thing can be shut down.

Even more dangerous is the censorship of discourse, dissent, criticism and free speech that these bills would make possible. It would make it too easy for a website that questioned the government or a major corporation be shut down on the flimsy, false grounds that it infringed some copyright somewhere. Essentially, the internet would be neutered as much as modern TV is. People can't let this happen, as the internet has become a place where real, uncensored news and information can be found, where grass-roots movements can be organized and where corporate and government agendas can be seen through and fought against.

The video below is a really hilarious-yet-frighteningly accurate portrayal of Hitler reacting to news of SOPA and PIPA.



Wikipedia, yes THAT Wikipedia could be shut down due to "copyright violations" if these pieces of controversial legislation pass the House, Senate and White House. Not good. The world, not just the U.S., would suffer from the loss of these sites.

SOPA and PIPA must be fought and defeated. They would give the American government and media companies too much power and would be a victory for corporate interests over freedom of speech and information. People have fought for decades for the right to protest government policies and the right to speak and act freely. Now people must fight for the right to blog, use Wikipedia, Youtube and Facebook, criticize governments and corporations online and give our free and honest opinoins on the internet.

If SOPA and PIPA are passed, what could be next? If the government and media companies see that they can get away with this much censoring, what is to stop them trying to quell all decent by taking away other forms of information sharing and free speech? In a time when China is slowly opening up to the world and allowing more information into the country (to a point, anyway), why is the United States going in the opposite direction and trying to enact Communist-style media/information censorship and propaganda? Because it threatens the power of the wealthy and multi-national corporations.

Well, one thing is sure. The revolution of the 99% has begun and it won't end until guarantees to protect internet freedom are in place and the world's wealth and decision-making power is shared much more equally among the 7 billion people on this planet.

This is my opinion and I am very passionate about this topic. Post your comments below and get the discussion going.