SOPA and PIPA: What you can do about it

If you’ve been on the Internet lately, you have noticed that sites like Google, the Wikia community, and Wikipedia have all been “censored”. Equestria Daily and even the blogging site I use, WordPress, have all put censors and black bars on their logos and posts. This is a web-wide protest. Its purpose: to bring attention to two bills promoted by old media companies that is now being taken into consideration by Congress. They are called SOPA and PIPA.

Now a while back I posted a little article on a bill called S.978. That bill and the two bills that are being considered now are actually quite similar. Their goal is to strengthen copyright holders and the government’s power when it comes to online content. SOPA and PIPA will allow the government to shut down any site that has copyrighted material, whether its embedded into the site or even a link in the comments section, to be taken down. The law is so broad that it is essentially the censorship that happens in China. Here’s a video by the Khan Academy explaining this in more detail:

Now, what can you, an average browser in the internet, do about these two bills? If you’re of voting age, contact your representative. You can sign a petition like the one Google has going on their site. If you’re outside the US or not of voting age, spread the news to those who are. These bills are just the beginning. Let’s stop this before something worse comes along.

Bill S.978

Thanks Dragon122 for asking that question

Just recently a bill has been proposed that will infringe on your rights to freely distribute information. This bill, called S.978, will make it a felony to upload video containing copyrighted material to the internet. Yes, that means people who upload karaoke videos, AMVs, and video game content to Youtube will be felons. On top of that, you can be charged with absurd fines and even go to jail for up to 5 YEARS. This law is being pushed by lobbyists from Hollywood who want to make more money. I understand where they’re coming from. It’s not right for people to steal content. However, this is a law that is up to interpretation. If someone had music playing the background of their vlog, even if its by accident, they can go to jail.

The implications of this bill are gigantic. I’m not an alarmist by any means, however this bill is absolutely ridiculous in its current form. If this bill had been passed say, when Red vs. Blue started, they people who made the series would have gone to jail or fined, then the series would be taken off the internet. If this bill passes in its current state, its obvious that people will break it. Whether its by accident or purposefully, somebody will be prosecuted. Then their lives would be ruined. How? They would be felons, so it’s harder for them to get a job (and times are hard enough as it is). They would waste up to 5 years of their lives in jail. Plus, they could end up broke because of the fines. The video game and music industry will probably slow down due to this bill. Uploaded videos of their content is a massive way of free advertisement. Machinima and your favorite gaming channels on Youtube would be done for. We cannot allow this to happen. If you want to keep making karaoke videos, AMVs, video game playthroughs and let’s plays, then go to freebieber.org and sign the petition. If you want to take a step further, call your congressman and tell them to say NO to S.978.