LET'S LET CONGRESS KILL THE INTERNET! ((SOPA/PIPA post. Please read))

[Falconer02]

If you haven't noticed, Google, Reddit, WordPress, Wikipedia and a few other major sites have or will be purposely going down or showing strange "blocked" images for the next 24 hrs. Google is currently the most basic of the bunch-



This is because of SOPA-- the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA-- Protect IP Act that is trying to be passed in the house. To sum it up, I'll quote what Wiki and Google has already written (because I'm tired)-

If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and inhibit people's access to information online. Why? SOPA and PIPA put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

Now there's nothing wrong with trying to stop piracy, but these acts are terribly written to give businesses and gov't an unfair use of power.

Fellow FC users, this is extremely important if you use the internet at all since this is literally one of those "Big businesses trying to undermine your freedom" events. Contact your state representative and tell them you'll vote them out if they intentionally shackle something that should remain free and open. These guys and girls only care about one thing, and thats keeping their power. If they legitmately believe they'll be voted out for taking a position, they'll switch in a heartbeat. Do that or atleast sign one of the many petitions going around the internet.
Google probably has the easiest to fill out-

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
(Click the picture)

I'll update this post if anything more relevant is posted here or elsewhere. Thanks for taking the time to read this! You're truly an Amurrikan!

[emily01]

Thank you for sharing this.  I just signed the petition you linked!

[beatsdrop]

This is scaring me so much I've been scared about this for a while. Signed the petition and hope these stupid bills never pass.

[sherryinutah]

Signed.  Thanks for making it easy, Falconer02.

[koolcraftlady]

Thank you for the update.  Just heard about that on the news.  It is going to hurt alot of businesses if that is passed.  Another thing that I don't agree with that the government is involved in.  Seems to be the norm any more, no matter what  you are trying to do.

[beatsdrop]

Here's some more petitions:

http://sopastrike.com/strike/
https://donate.mozilla.org/page/s/sopa-pipa-petition/
http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/
http://americancensorship.org/

[astrozier1]

Watch this video we might not be able to stop this because the entertainment industry is backing up this bill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFiX6pSVNjo/

[inertia4]

It's a shame that this country just wants to control every single part of our lives. I think this is communism. We should have total freedom. Now I am not saying there shouldn't be laws and rules, but when it comes to the internet, it is international. Therefore it should be free always. I am embarrassed to say I am american.

[Abrupt]

Thanks Falconer02 for making people aware of this (It shows a failure and a corruption in our news media if people are not aware of it by now honestly -- and I suspect over 75 percent of Americans are not aware of it).  Thanks to you others for also contributing to the effort. 

[diala84]

Many Thanks. I'm glad to add my name to the petition.

[mawhite63]

Just a suggestion, take it for what it's worth.

A lot of legislators don't put a whole lot of weight behind online petitions. I'm not saying don't sign, because it helps to show numbers of who is behind support. But also please consider taking a moment to make a phone call or write a letter. It doesn't take that long, and you can find your legislators by going to http://www.congress.org and entering in your zip code.

[cwillard1]

I heard on news congress received 10 million responses to this.  The first of its kind.  The next 24 hours should be interesting to see what happens especially in an election year.

[champak97]

Signed the petition. After seeing the Youtube video I am afraid whether all this protest by Wikipedia and Google will be in vain.