If you haven't noticed, the internet is a little dark today. Many sites like Wikipedia, Craigslist, Reddit, and others have turned their sites off for the day to protest 2 bills coming through Congress: SOPA & PIPA.
SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is in the House of Representatives and PIPA (Protect IP Act) is going through the Senate. Both bills were written with the intent of stopping online piracy of things like music, movies, and more by giving copyright holders more options for punishing websites with pirated content. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The problem is people. Copyright holders will be able to basically remove a website from American web browsers by merely ACCUSING THEM of spreading pirated content. The way the law is at the moment, websites can be shut down by the government but are allowed an opportunity to remove any pirated content first... PIPA and SOPA would remove that chance.
The intentions are aimed the right way but this puts way too much power in a few hands and could lead to websites being shutdown for censorship instead of violation of piracy laws.
Click here for more info on SOPA & PIPA and how you can make your voice heard.
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