Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Stop SOPA & PIPA
I’m not a fan of politics. I don’t like discussing them and they tend to lead to arguments and destructive consequences. Sorry, not my cup of tea. That said, when bills are proposed that threaten to undo the very thing that my livelihood is built on, I stand up and take notice. I’m not going to write a drawn-out post about why SOPA and PIPA aren’t the answer for stopping Internet piracy. Others have written amazing, thoughtful, and informative articles on this topic and I deeply encourage you to read some, if not all of them to educate yourself on what these bills are and what they have the potential to do.
I’ll keep my thoughts on this topic short. These bills are a heavy-handed attempt, born from and old way of thinking, to stifle much of the freedom that we enjoy online. I agree that online piracy is bad. Nobody is denying that. The issue with these two bills is the fact that they overstep boundaries, not by inches or feet, but miles. Epic, massive miles. They threaten the openness that is one of the cornerstones of the Internet. It’s true that the Internet is somewhat like the “Wild West”, but the community has learned to police itself (in most areas). The what-if’s are too many and too unknown to risk passing a bill that can unseat the foundation of the Internet. Alright, I’m off my soapbox. Here are some links I hope you’ll check out.
