Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Working My Way Back But First: SOPA/PIPA





Today many sites on the internet are black. Or blacked out. This is done to give you an idea of things to come if Americans don't take action.




PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.



I've been working on ideas for posts and making some changes to the blog, but want to pop in to ask my readers to please watch this video about PIPA/SOPA proposed legislation that is before the US Congress.


This powerful and ill-conceived piece of legislation diverts the responsibility of digital rights management from the creators of copyrighted property (READ: The Entertainment Industry) to the owners and managers of websites (YouTube, Facebook, Blog sites, YouTube, etc). How does it work? If a single bad link is posted on a website, the owner becomes responsible and without due process the entire site can be shut down. Individuals may be liable for up to five years in prison.


How can all this be exploited? 


Since due process is not involved, SOPA and PIPA legislation is tantamount to censorship.


Because of the stringent terms of this legislation, it will become difficult for new internet start-ups and the internet will become less safe.


And simple things, like videos of your child on YouTube, singing "Climb Every Mountain" or "I Believe I Can Fly" will be banned. Because, technically speaking, your child has not paid the royalties to sing that song. (And goodbye YouTube, by the way.)


This legislation takes what is a country that touts itself as a bastion of freedom and censors its internet. Shall we list a few other nations that do that? China, Iran, North Korea.

Should we join them?

Please watch the video above and take the time to contact your congresspersons:

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

or go to Wikipedia or Google and take action.

Piracy is wrong. Censorship is also wrong.

The protection of copyrighted content is a just cause, but this my readers, is unjust legislation and an unjust price to pay.







© Bright Nepenthe, 2012

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