Answer: SOPA/PIPA.
What are SOPA and PIPA?
SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill drafted in the US House of Representatives. PIPA is the PROTECT IP Act, a bill drafted in the US Senate. Both bills are aimed at stopping online piracy, however, they are flawed in their execution and overreaching in their scope.
At best, SOPA and PIPA represent a chilling new form of censorship, unprecedented in America.
At worst, they will break the internet as you know it.
But this won’t impact me… right?
Wrong. Think of some of the most common sites your visit: Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter – even Google.
Under SOPA/PIPA, they could be completely shut down.
SOPA/PIPA have the power to shut down even your anonymous infertility blog, your mommy blog, your coupon blog, your crafting blog, your photo blog, your whatever blog – too. All because the entertainment industry suspects you may be harboring – or even promoting – pirated material on your website. They can take down your website on suspicion – preemptively – with no real evidence.
I still don’t understand. How will SOPA/PIPA break the internet?
Here’s a handy video that explains it all in under 4 minutes:
Can’t watch the video? Here’s a handy article from Lifehacker instead:
All About SOPA, the Bill That Wants to Cripple Your Internet Very Soon
Who opposes SOPA/PIPA?
Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, Roblox, Reddit, the Wikimedia Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU, Human Rights Watch…
This list is just a fraction of the complete list of companies, brands, websites, and other leaders who have expressed concerns about SOPA/PIPA.
Oh, and The White House thinks both bills are pretty bad ideas.
Whoa. That’s bananas. What can I do?
While a fairly open-ended statement from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has shelved SOPA, his statement leaves room for a future bill similar to SOPA to come down the pike, PIPA is still up for a vote on January 24th. It’s vital that the American public ACTS NOW.
2. Contact your Senators. Call BOTH their DC and state offices. Demand they listen to your concerns. To refuse to do so is basically your Senator’s way of refusing to do their job. Contact your reps here by filling in your zip and going from there.
3. Show your solidarity by joining the second Blackout day on January 24th.
Put up a message that your site is down on January 24 in protest. WordPress user? I’m using the Blackout SOPA Plugin. Highly customizable, easy to use, and creates a temporary landing page/cookie for visitors informing them about SOPA/PIPA, with a link for them to click through to your website, as well as where to get info on SOPA. Once the plugin is deactivated, the temp page that was created will be deleted from your site.
4. Change your Facebook and Twitter profile pictures.
Do it in just a few clicks here: http://www.blackoutsopa.org/
5. Sign the Petition.
Then go tell your friends.
