The world has been blacked out

I've written recently about SOPA, and there is a similar bill called PIPA that is in the works. SOPA was recently shelved, as numerous people, companies and organizations spoke out about the Draconian rules that SOPA was proposing. PIPA, however is still in the works. If either one of these acts become law, the damage to the open and free internet will be immeasurable.

The new laws will violate numerous personal rights in the name of corporations. The acts also make internet providers and websites responsible for their user's action. As well, the simple act of linking to a site that holds pirated material makes the linker guilty of piracy as well.

Several different websites have blacked out their homepage only to display a message about how SOPA and PIPA will harm the web, the internet community and innovation in general. I know I live in Canada, so I have very little influence about this, but because I live in Canada, I know that our government will soon follow whatever the US does. Not only that, but several of the websites that I use on a daily basis, including Wikipedia, Reddit, and dozens more are located in the US so they will be affected by these two bills.

Talk to anyone you can, tell your elected representative, and just stay informed. These two acts will help to take down the free and open nature of the internet so that a few companies can make more money.

Protect IP and Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA)

I am Canadian, I do live in Canada, so this should have little effect on me, but it will, eventually. The current Canadian government is very conservative in nature, and seems to have the interests of corporations above those of the people. If the USA does adopt the Protect IP and SOPA, it stands to reason that Canada would soon follow. 

This would be very bad for the Internet and the economy in general. With the internet, a whole world of communications and entertainment has been opened. It wasn't long ago the only way we heard about new bands or TV shows was from print media, radio or our friends. Now we can have constant updates as to new and exciting bands, get reviews from the latest episodes from people the world over, and be informed the instant something happens. The majority of these items, blogs, can be shut down just because a corporation things it infringes on their copyrights. The wording of the act itself is vague enough that nearly anything, even making a video where a song is heard in the background from somewhere else, could be a copyright violation.  This fear of being accused and charged is enough to stop many innovators from doing what they do best, being creative. Many sites will be shut down or threatened with being shut down if they do not remove what some lawyer thinks is a copyright violation. 

We have already seen governments taking the rights of corporations over the rights of people with the signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement(ATCA). With the ACTA, random boarder searches of electronic devices for pirated software and media will be allowed, violating several freedom acts, including the Fourth Amendment. 

While I do agree that piracy is a problem, it is not as big a problem as the media makes it out to be. The majority of people are willing to pay for music, movies and TV show downloads. The success of iTunes has proven this. The fact that Google is also set to release their own music service just further reinforces it. 

A new approach to copyright is needed. One that takes fair use into account, among other things. I don't pretend to be an expert in any of these issues, but all I ask is dialog, so that people can be informed, and stay informed, and let their voices be heard. 

PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.