First, I want to make it clear that I am against copyright infringement. It's a serious problem in need of a solution.
If you've heard of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act; note that links to a pdf of the actual bill), you'll know that the bill is, in theory, designed to do just that. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't do much to actually stop online piracy (find out why not). But it would have profound implications for how we use the internet. In many ways, it would provide a broad blanket to censor social media sites.
Find out for yourself; make up your mind about it, but do so quickly. If you're against it, the time to act is now.
I need to read more...
ReplyDeleteAlex, yes, do!
ReplyDeleteI posted the lifehacker link because I think it offers the best--most balanced--overview of SOPA. I'm all for stopping piracy, but the bill, as written, has a huge loophole and probably wouldn't do much to actually stop piracy.
Nevertheless, it would provide the government with a tool to shut down major social networking sites that have been instrumental in the fight for democracy (e.g., in the Middle East and Africa). All it would take is one user posting something they feel violates the new law, and all of twitter, facebook, or youtube could be shut down.