For those of you who are not aware, there is bill being passed through congress, that is funded primarily by major networks production companies and music labels, called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This bill, introduced in October of 2011, in concept is a great idea that in at face would protect against theft. The only problem here is that this bill creates legal loop holes that can readily be misused to shut down competition or for other malicious reasons. Beyond that there are already two existing bills that address this issue and provide victims of piracy means for taking action, namely the PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.
What SOPA will do is restrict innovation and infringe upon net neutrality. Here is a great video by Fight For The Future that describes this a bit better:
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
We can make a difference, don’t wait until its too late. You can read more at Stop American Censorship and check out the SOPA Protest Google+ feed to see what other people are saying/have said on the topic including field pioneers such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
Tags: In the News, Web Design, Web Dev, Web Development
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