//This Is Important: Protect IP/SOPA
By now you've no doubt discovered, or at least heard of, the two bills being fast tracked through the U.S. house of representatives that have the potential to be the most damaging internet censorship laws we've ever seen. They're called Protect-IP and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and they, just like every other other bogus censorship law, are disguised as bills that would protect creativity when, in fact, they wholly stifle it.
The whole thing gets a little complicated and the above video will help better explain it, but here's how this wolf in sheep's clothing works. The bill would allow copyright holders, on nothing more than a whim, to sue and use the government to shut down sites that allegedly infringe upon their copyrighted material. Going beyond the obvious (torrenting and downloading), these acts give giant companies the right to cut off advertising revenue to a site, sue a site for more than they are worth, sue people for more than they are worth, and eliminate smaller competition using all the horsepower of the United States government. YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr and a ton of other sites would all be held liable for an infringing link, and thus would be forced to eliminate you as a user, or be coerced into giving up your IP address so that you can be added to an 'Internet Black List.' Sounds kind of familiar. It would criminalize posting, sharing or even viewing standard internet content if a company doesn't like what is being presented.
Goodbye up and coming bands playing cover songs. Goodbye aspiring actors recording and posting monologues. Goodbye web content that is too referential. Goodbye writing that speaks critically of a copyrighted item.
All this just so that people will maybe buy more movies and music and contribute to an industry that that has a miniscule effect on the American economy compared to that of the internet.
Don't get it twisted. If these are made into law, they would effectively end the internet as we know it and that is the bottom line.
So, f I were you, I'd do some or all of the following things:
-Send a personal letter to your representative in Congress.
-Send this pre-written letter to Congress asking them to oppose the legislation.
-Sign this petition and/or this petition.
-Educate yourself with this kind of annoying informative video.
This is serious, people. Get mad about this. Get the word out before 'getting the word out' becomes illegal.
