Notice: this article has been found in violation of H.R. 3261, SOPA. and therefore access has been denied.
Had the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) been passed, messages like these would be replacing your frequented Internet destinations for streaming, downloading and viewing.
Although SOPA has since been scrapped, the senate version of this bill, S. 968 PIPA, is still in the process of being voted upon, though temporarily postponed.
These highly debated bills would essentially allow the government to shut down access to web sites that contained pirated content without a traditional trial, according to the Huffington Post.
“The fact of the matter is that the backers of SOPA and PIPA really have no idea what they are talking about,” said Sara Pollack ‘13. “They have the inclination that these bills will protect intellectual American property, create more American jobs, and put an end to ‘rogue’ sites, but it’s just another example of the abuse of government power.”
So how did SOPA fizzle out? And why has PIPA been indefinitely postponed?
According to a written statement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the stalling of this legislation is “in light of recent of events.” Specifically?
On January 18, 2012, online organizations in opposition to SOPA and PIPA staged a virtual protest by “blacking out” their websites, communicating what they thought to be the level of restriction to which SOPA would entitle the government.
On blackout day, Wikipedia’s sole accessible page in its English division read, “For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open internet.”
Over 115,000 websites participated in the blackout, either completely blocking access to content or simply hinting towards opposition through illustration, according to the New York Times. Notable websites included Google, Reddit, WordPress, Tumblr, and Flickr.
These bills also had major support throughout the political, economic and entertainment sphere.
For example, on the January 20th episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” host and libertarian Bill Maher stated his support for the bill, citing a “moral dimension” to stopping internet piracy.
Companies in support of this legislation included Wal-Mart, Disney, Sony, Nike, and Ralph Lauren, according to an official support letter to Congress signed by more than 120 businesses.
The day after the blackout, file-sharing web site Megaupload was seized by the FBI and Justice Department in what they viewed as one of the biggest copyright piracy cases to date, according to The New York Times. Founder Kim Schmitz, along with several others, was arrested and charged with five counts of copyright infringement and conspiracy.
Although admitting that PIPA’s significant opposition required attention, Senator Reid stressed that the bill is still alive, saying, “There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved.”
Though PIPA remains postponed, it has the potential to resurface for voting at any time.
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