Help Stop SOPA and PIPA

Today, a whole bunch of websites are blacking themselves out in protest of SOPA and PIPA.  Die-Screaming won’t be going black, but not because we think SOPA or PIPA is good legislation.  It’s not.  Both pieces are horribly flawed pieces of legislation that have nothing to do with stopping or even limiting online piracy.  That’s what the media companies who’ve lobbied the US Congress into considering these laws have said it’s about, but it’s not.  SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), if passed, would give media companies like Warner Brothers, Disney, and Time Warner god-like powers to rule over the Internet.

If that sounds like I’m being dramatic, I’m not.  Both SOPA and PIPA give media companies the equivalent of a Death Star.  With only a accusation, a copyright holder can have a website shut down and blocked.  Additionally, any other site who links to that accused site can also be subject to being shut down.  Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.  Suppose you take a video of your sister’s wedding reception.  The video features your sister dancing with her husband and you upload it to Youtube to share.  Congratulations, you’ve just violated SOPA and now you’ve also put Youtube in danger of getting shut down.

 See, the video contained copyrighted music (the song they were dancing to) and by hosting the video, Youtube can now be hit with all sorts of penalties, including getting banned.  Additionally, this legislation would make any other website that links to Youtube in violation of SOPA and, ha ha, they too can be subject to penalties.  Do you know how many websites link to Youtube?  Also, under SOPA, all the copyright holder of that song has to do to make all of this happen is make a complaint.  That’s it.  There’s no hearing, no trial, no investigation.  This is the type of power that both SOPA and PIPA give to media companies and it’s why they are fighting so hard to get it passed.  It’s also why everyone else is fighting so hard against it.

Okay, so hopefully you agree that both SOPA and PIPA are bad, bad news.  So how do you help?  Simple.  First, talk to people about what’s going on and what’s at stake.  Many people simply don’t know what’s going on with all of this (the nightly news, operated by the massive media companies who are sponsoring both of these laws, aren’t really talking about it) and they NEED to know.  Second, take a moment to write or call your Congressman.  To make that really easy, simply click HERE.  And don’t stop talking about why SOPA and PIPA are both evil.  These pieces of legislation are horrible and must be stopped and it’s up to to us to help do it.

Last updated by Dan C. on January 18, 2012.