What Is SOPA & How Will It Affect You?
For the past few weeks you may have heard about a STRONG campaign against SOPA. Just what is it and how will it affect how you use the internet?
If Congress has its way, the internet will face the BIGGEST form of censorship its seen during its existence. Some of you may be confused or unaware of what SOPA is.
We’re here to simplify it for you and tell you how you can prevent it.
SOPA is a House Bill introduced on October 26th, 2011. If made law, it will allow U.S. law enforcement to aggressively go after websites that participate in online trafficking and copyright infringement.
Here is the direct legal term from section 102 of SOPA
A service provider shall take technically feasible and reasonable measures designed to prevent access by its subscribers located within the United States to the foreign infringing site (or portion thereof) that is subject to the order…Such actions shall be taken as expeditiously as possible, but in any case within five days after being served with a copy of the order, or within such time as the court may order.
Portions of the bill will require websites to prevent access to it’s subscribers if the Government finds it’s in violation. In its simplicity, your favorite website will shut down and you as a subscriber or user will be left out in the cold!
Yesterday major websites such as Wikipedia and Google illustrated a black out in protest of the bill. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and AOL all wrote letters to key members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, saying SOPA poses “a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as to our nation’s cybersecurity.”
The Senate will begin voting on this bill January 24th. Although its intentions is internet trafficking, the move will impose harmful regulations on American businesses and millions of internet users.
It will also affect a lot of jobs as well!
How You Can Help
By signing this online petition, your voice along with millions of people will be heard. It’s a small step, but there’s always power in numbers.
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