18 January 2012

SOPA and PIPA: Bad for the internet, and your blog

Normally this blog only features poetry. However, I feel that this issue affects any artist who uses the internet.

Today, the US Congress is considering two bills the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). If either bill passes, it could fundamentally change the way the internet works. Corporations could shut down any website which they claim infringes on their profits. It would make it difficult to run any website with user-gernerated content (any blog, any forum, any social website) unless you have a lot of money to defend your website.

I'm asking every US citizen, please go to these websites and take action! Sign petitions, email your representatives, call their offices.

You can enter your ZIP code into Wikipedia, and it will tell you how to call your representatives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Sign Google's petition:
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Fill out the forms here to email your representative:
http://americancensorship.org/
(be sure to fill out both "SOPA Strike" and "Send an Email to Congress")

These bills are dangerous.

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