What is SOPA & PIPA & Why You Should Care!
SOPA is an anti-piracy bill working its way through Congress but it is a very badly written piece of legislation that will basically bring the Internet to a grinding halt. Please allow me to illustrate why you should care about SOPA and PIPA and how they can effect you if they become law. I’d like to illustrate this with a picture taken during my summer vacation. It’s a picture of myself, friends and family standing in front of McDonalds golden arches in Washington DC.
Me and my family & friends in front of McDonald's Golden Arches.
Get The Picture? SOPA is a Bad Law!
If SOPA passes then a mere complaint from McDonalds, without providing proof of copyright violation, can get your website or blog shut down!
So Why Could Your Website Be Shut Down By the SOPA Bill if it Becomes Law?
This is what makes SOPA and PIPA terrible piece of legislation! It can put your family photo’s under the control of enormous Television and Film Corporations who can shut down your blog by mearly claiming your personal family blog is violating their copyright.
The most galling issue with SOPA is that it lets IP owners take these actions without a single court appearance or judicial sign-off. All it requires is a single letter claiming a “good faith belief” that the target site has infringed on its content. Once Google or PayPal or whoever received the quarantine notice, they would have five days to either abide or to challenge the claim in court. Google won’t be able to fight for your rights with millions of CLAIMED copyright violations being filed like a flowing torrent.
Please realize that SOPA is designed to control you and me and will likely leave the real pirates to perform business as usual because they are outside of SOPA’s jurisdiction. Some guy sharing movies from Russia or China doesn’t care what American laws have to say, these laws don’t effect them at all.
Call your representatives and tell them to vote NO on SOPA and PIPA.
Should we allow SOPA to pass it will signal that we are no better than the Chine** ****** ********* ******* ** *** ******* ************** This comment has been found in violation of H.R. 3261, S.O.P.A and has been removed.