PIPA, SOPA Acts | Victory For Now
On Friday, January 20th, 2012, “victory” became us! The “internet” rose up and raised a voice of unprecedented levels to stop both the Protect-IP-Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) from being enacted as law, both of which introduced suppression of the innovation that has been birthed by the internet as we know it today.
Millions of internet users carried out one of the largest protests on record on our way to victory. Participants with more than 13 million other internet surfers (on one lever or another) engaged in the debate and spoke out across the Web. Our “voiced” objection resulted in the postponement of not one, but both bills!
No small victory on anyone’s scale! But they do have the potential of raising their nasty heads once again, in which event we’ll be back into service in the fight for freedom of speech, freedom of choice, and freedom in the marketplace!
As with nearly every bill, there are some very good features in the proposed bills. Protecting against piracy is something that must be enforced. There are, however, present existing laws on the books to do such a thing. But just as The Patriot Act became law under the best of intentions on the surface, it continues to prove itself as very unpatriotic in the worst of terms, eroding our “patriotic” freedoms, voiding out many of our freedoms that had come through such victory required by the blood of untold millions through history.
On January 24 th, I received a very nice reply from my state senator (as you probably have from yours as well) in which he made clear he’s determined at stopping online piracy. Aside from the pirates, of course, who isn’t?
He went on to say that preventing real threats to economic creativity and theft of intellectual property is aimed at protecting copyrighted information on the internet. I agree! No debate here! But where it really gets sticky is when he continues to explain how this legislation would authorize the Attorney General to bring legal action against the owner of any site that is seen to have infringed on intellectual property. That could mean anyone on any level!
I get the impression there lies a new opportunity for government to further strip away the victory in the past. The major motion picture studio lobbyists behind these bills, presently chaired by former Senator Chris Dodd, know just how easily legislators can be swayed by just a little TLC of superficial adjustments. I say, stand at the post and keep vigilance, for that is the only way to stay the victory!
To review real stats on the impact of 13 million online protesters, visit this (unsolicited) link: http://www.sopastrike.com/numbers . I hope to never write about this issue again. But wait…..
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