I was going to write a long post about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA), but I played Battlefield 3 with my buddy in Cincinnati instead. And I've been ranting about this on Twitter and Google+ for almost a month now. So I'll keep this post short.
Chuck Wendig has already captured my attitude towards these bills in his own... inimitable fashion. But he has left out a few points I want to make.
These bills won't create jobs. What they will in all likelihood do is overwork every I.T. guy in companies that have to comply with the blockade rules in the bill: advertisers, search engines, and payment processors.
They will implement Internet censorship. Internet service providers will be able to block any website they believe is "dedicated to the theft of US property", and be immunized from any retaliatory lawsuits.
And you won't be able to avoid it. Any tools that would circumvent such blocks on the Internet would be banned. These are the same tools that are used to get around Internet censorship by repressive regimes elsewhere in the world.
There are plenty of websites up today where you can learn more about SOPA and PIPA. I ask that you take the time to learn about these bills and, if you agree with me, to do whatever you can to oppose them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment