On Wednesday January 18, 2012 many sites are planning a blackout in protest of SOPA. The blackout is symbolic to what could happen if Congress and The Senate vote to pass SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) and allow censorship of the Internet. The bills are intended to stop or prevent piracy, however opponents of the bill say that it is too broad and will give the government and law makers the power to shut down websites. In addition to the threat of over bearing censorship, those against the SOPA and PIPA bills maintain that it will not prevent or stop piracy.
The non-profit organization Fight for the Future is one of the main opponents to the SOPA and PIPA bills and they publish several websites with information on why SOPA and PIPA are both bad for the internet and freedom of speech among many other rights. The site www.SOPASTRIKE.com has a list of the sites that are participating in the blackout on January 18th and also has a form for you to petition other sites to go dark to raise awareness and show an example of what could happen to many websites if the bills are passed.
Here is a great video showing what and why Internet Marketers should fight for in 2012, SOPA is at the top the list of 6 things that marketers should take a stand against and their video explains why.
Mashable has a topic devoted to SOPA and is updated with new articles about SOPA.
Here are many other articles to help keep up or catch up with the topic:
The Problem with SOPA (And How to Stop It)
Over 40 Internet Companies Come Out Publicly Against SOPA
Google, Amazon, Twitter and Facebook consider 'nuclear' blackout
Go Daddy Pulls Support For The Bill That The Internet Hates
Where Do Your Elected Officials Stand on SOPA?
Fears of SOPA ‘Unfounded,’ Says Bill’s Sponsor
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