So you might have noticed that the Wikipedia page looks weird.
It's to do with SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA, Protect IP Act. They were drafted to give the US government the authority to do crazy things to websites that allowed copyrighted things to be shown and/or posted. It's all about protecting the entertainment industry. For example things Mediafire, Youtube and even Twitter would be under fire because they have users posting copyrighted things. The US government would be able to block their pages, get US companies to stop advertising off their websites and fine search engines for linking users to websites with copyrighted material within the US. Both acts will probably get abused by the US government.
The world is going on about it and you wonder why you should care.
Think of what it means for us, especially in South Africa.
Our government already has permission to censor certain information from us within the media forum (Black Tuesday). They catch wind of these two acts and they start censoring the internet in South Africa too. What if we couldn't organise protests for change like in Egypt because they simply have the means to shut down Facebook and Twitter? So much for social media and freedom.
Watch this video to fully comprehend how bad SOPA and PIPA are.
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW! - http://www.fightforthefuture.org/pipa
PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting "creativity". The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites-- they just have to convince a judge that the site is "dedicated to copyright infringement."
The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that's for a fix that won't work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.
It's to do with SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA, Protect IP Act. They were drafted to give the US government the authority to do crazy things to websites that allowed copyrighted things to be shown and/or posted. It's all about protecting the entertainment industry. For example things Mediafire, Youtube and even Twitter would be under fire because they have users posting copyrighted things. The US government would be able to block their pages, get US companies to stop advertising off their websites and fine search engines for linking users to websites with copyrighted material within the US. Both acts will probably get abused by the US government.
The world is going on about it and you wonder why you should care.
Think of what it means for us, especially in South Africa.
Our government already has permission to censor certain information from us within the media forum (Black Tuesday). They catch wind of these two acts and they start censoring the internet in South Africa too. What if we couldn't organise protests for change like in Egypt because they simply have the means to shut down Facebook and Twitter? So much for social media and freedom.
Watch this video to fully comprehend how bad SOPA and PIPA are.
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW! - http://www.fightforthefuture.org/pipa
PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting "creativity". The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites-- they just have to convince a judge that the site is "dedicated to copyright infringement."
The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that's for a fix that won't work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.
