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Online Piracy Act could change Internet forever
If SOPA — the Stop Online Piracy Act -- and its sister bill in the Senate, PIPA (Protect IP Act) pass and become law, social sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Tumblr will be affected. Photo by Samantha Snow
The Internet is key to the technological age we live in. Right now a bill sitting in the House of Representatives could change the way the Internet runs. The bill is called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and it was assembled by a bipartisan group of 12. Representing the bill is Lamar Smith, a republican from Texas. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to seek court orders against any U.S. directed foreign Internet sites committing online piracy to cease and desist from further activities.
In an interview from CNN.com U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “Efforts by governments that try to control on line activity in their own countries could be disastrous for Internet freedom.”
Those in favor of SOPA claim that it protects the property market, jobs and revenue, and that it is a key part in the enforcement of copyright laws.
Opponents claim that it violates First Amendment rights and will cripple the Internet.
At school the Internet is one of the most, if not the most, widely used source of information. With SOPA some of the information could be censored, or it could be very hard to get access to them. The United States isn’t the only country taking Internet censorship laws into consideration. The Chinese government already has Internet censorship laws to block sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
“China’s Internet filtering and censorship are causing real economic harm,” according to Ed Black from Forbes.
SOPA is sitting in the house with committee consideration and its Mark-up session held. A vote is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, December 21. It has been predicted that the House will pass SOPA, yet when it reaches the senate it is likely to be declined.
To find out more information click here.
By Samantha Snow
| Do you think it’s right to download movies or music on line for free? Why or why not? | |
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Freshman Connor Hutchinson: “No, movies and music industries should make money off of their products.” |
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Sophomore Andrew Zesiger: “It’d be awesome and convenient but privacy would sky-rocket.” |
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Junior Brian Wiegand:“No because actors and musicians work hard; some may think they don’t, but I think they do.” |
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Senior Andrew Dowd:“Movies no, music yes. Music is over priced, but movies are more appropriately priced.”
By Jeff Kurtz and Katie Quick |
Emma
January 10, 2012 at 2:52 pm
If this happens, im leaving the country.
Jeebus
January 9, 2012 at 3:41 pm
SOPA is quite possibly the tipping point in extreme censorship. If it makes it past that point in the US, it’s merely the beginning of a slippery slope. Control of the information flow is becoming more sophisticated, and it’s hampering the development of our generation, as well as the next. The internet is much more than silly pictures and videos, it’s a window to the world. You can witness things far across the globe, barely moments after they occur. You can become informed. The internet is filled with crap as well, to be sure, but without a proper understanding of more than mouse usage, and typing (not even proper typing…), you can never properly learn to pick through the noise. That’s why it’s called “mainstream.” It’s the main stream of info, which you can’t generally break out of without searching long and hard for some explanations. The information as well as technology progression is often moving so quickly, that moments pass before our eyes as the rest of the world moves on independent and otherwise unaffected by your desires or hatred, whether great or small.
They have left far too many questions unanswered for far too long, sparking more along the way as they, too, remain unanswered, but now the information is coming together. If you take your time, you can find the major points that reveal how dire our situation may become. I’m not even talking conspiracy theories here. I’m talking cold, hard facts. It’s time to wake up and take control people.
“…the rest of us are %#*ked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. We owe that to ourselves, and to our crippled self-image, to be seen as something better than a nation of panicked sheep.” – Hunter S. Thompson
“Laws are made to keep honest people honest.” – Old Saying
“They say we don’t have to fear the law if we’re not doing anything wrong, right? Well, THEY don’t need to fear openness if they’re not doing anything wrong either.” – Unknown
Tyanne
January 6, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Well I guess I don’t have to spend the weekend fgiuirng this one out!
Clarence
January 4, 2012 at 3:44 am
It will be hard to find advised people on this topic, you be understood as you are aware of exactly what you are talking about! Thx