S.O.P.A. and what it can really do.

Not sure how many of you have heard of S.O.P.A., but I am going to comment on it here.  The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R.3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors.  That statement was taken directly from wikipedia, without any permission whatsoever.  So...  theoretically, if this was copyrightable material, and it was flagged by anyone, Blogspot would have 5 days to take this post (or I guess my blog site down).  If they failed to do so, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) would have to blacklist the entire Blogspot domain.  In addition, I'd go to jail for 5 years!

More so, if one of you comments on my blog with copyrightable material and it is flagged, the same thing would happen.  My Blog would be taken down even if I am not the one putting the material online.  Oh, and you could go to jail for 5 years for putting it online.  And Blogspot would still get taken offline if they didn't remove the comment within 5 days.  

Seem like a bit much?  Sound a bit too overpowering?  A representative stated he didn't know how the Internet worked at the first SOPA hearing, but still thought he was entitled to vote on this bill.    Senator Pat Casey said in a canned email response to me (in regards to PIPA -- the Senate version of this demon bill),  that "This bill will also help combat the shortage of American jobs; it would cut off international rogue websites that take American jobs as well as harm American consumers."  That sentence alone shows me that these people who have been elected have no idea what they are doing and should not be voting on this kind of material.   They are being lobbied by the MPAA and RIAA (and God knows who else), and simply trying to get re-elected in the meantime.  Jobs are the number one issue on everyone's mind, so stuff like it needs to be thrown in for defense of these bills.

On Wednesday, 12/21, the House will be discussing S.O.P.A. again.   Please visit http://americancensorship.org/ and do the quick steps to do your part in ensuring that this does not pass.  

For the future,

Pat