A Special SOPA/PIPA "Public Announcements"

***ATTENTION, EVERYONE WHO VALUES A FREE AND OPEN INTERNET! ***

Please take the time to read this post from the Electronic Frontier Foundation about the dangers the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) pose to internet freedom.

This bill may be the greatest threat to internet freedom that you've never heard of. That's because all the major television networks have come out in favor of SOPA and PIPA and have all but blacked out coverage and discussion. Even MSNBC supports this bill, and as far as I know, Chris Hayes' show is the only MSNBC program I've seen even discuss it.


How could this affect your internet viewing? Look no further than this very blog. Take "Friday Night Fights", for example. My posts and those of the other "Fighters" are predominantly based on DC and Marvel scans, and DC and Marvel both support SOPA/PIPA. If they pass, they could potentially block all our sites for posting scans of their books.


Granted, I understand the online piracy problem and the need to fight it. But these bills are the legislative equivalent of bringing armed 50-megaton atomic bombs to a gunfight. They're like blowing up an entire neighborhood to stop a rash of burglaries in that neighborhood.


Support for this bill hasn't lined up along the usual partisan divides, either. Al Franken (D), for example, is in favor of SOPA, while Darrell Issa (R) is fighting vigorously against it. This time I'm actually on Issa's side.


At present, the Senate is going full speed ahead with PIPA, while the House is temporary shelving SOPA. However, without our vigilance, either of these bills could quietly pass in the dead of night. The White House has come out against both SOPA and PIPA. On the other hand, they also originally came out against the NDAA, and we know how THAT turned out.


It's up to us.


Read the info provided in the link above. Then call your Congresspeople and let them know you will not stand for it.


Constant vigilance is the price we pay for freedom. That goes for the internet, too.