DO YOUR PART! The internet is under attack – the open and free internet that we’ve all grown-up with, is now the target of powerful lobbyists and ignorant/bought government officials. This is no conspiracy theory – this isn’t fiction: This is a very real : very serious problem facing everyone. There are two bills of Legislation in Washington right now: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). Both bills were written by lobbyists and sold to congressmen/senators, whom know very little about the ramifications of these bills.
SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act):
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.[4] - Read More…..
PIPA (Protect IP Act):
The bill defines infringement as distribution of illegal copies, counterfeit goods, or anti-digital rights management technology. Infringement exists if “facts or circumstances suggest [the site] is used, primarily as a means for engaging in, enabling, or facilitating the activities described.”[8] The bill says that it does not alter existing substantive trademark or copyright law.[9]
The bill provides for “enhancing enforcement against rogue websites operated and registered overseas” and authorizes the United States Department of Justice to seek a court order in rem against websites dedicated to infringing activities, if through due diligence, an individual owner or operator cannot be located.[10] The bill requires the Attorney General to serve notice to the defendant.[11] Once the court issues an order, it could be served on financial transaction providers, Internet advertising services, Internet service providers, and information location tools to require them to stop financial transactions with the rogue site and remove links to it.[12] The term “information location tool” is borrowed from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and is understood to refer to search engines but could cover other sites that link to content…. - Read More…….
Hidden inside both pieces of legislation are powerful clauses, wording that will strip civil liberties, freedom of speech, safe harbor protections, business/online commerce and the physical back-bone of the internet – DNS. Action needs to be taken to stop these bills from become laws and everyone needs to participate, this will effect everyone. In a cohesive stance against SOPA & PIPA, hundreds of major companies from all over the world have decided to strike: Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, Roblox, Reddit, the Wikimedia Foundation and human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, and Human Rights Watch. For more information regarding the issues, please visit the SopaStrike website here and please pass the word about this very important issue. January 18th, 2012 has been declared a global WEB STRIKE DAY – Join In.
Source: SopaStrike