SOPA The Day After the Internet Strike

Google blacked out its name in protest of SOPA, underneath it reads, “Tell Congress. Please don’t censor the Web.”

Many websites changed their look yesterday in response to the SOPA and PIPA bills that are written to protect against anti-piracy but would effectively censor a large majority of the content on the Internet. For one day, January 18, 2012, Wikipedia shut down, WordPress went dark and Google censored their name, along with other website blackouts, in an effort to draw attention this proposed legislation that would conflict with our 1st Amendment rights. Internet users traded messages on Twitter and Facebook to share information on local Senators to contact in protest. Throughout the day opponents of the legislation and activists flooded Congress with protest calls and emails. (Senator phone numbers are provided at the end of this article.)

The public outcry was heard in the House, where Speaker John Boehner was quoted as saying,  ”there’s a lack of consensus at this point” regarding the vote on SOPA.  Several Senators changed their minds on the legislation and, as of now, the senate plans to rewrite the bill and present it again later this week. With the public being heard loud and clear on this issue, there’s no doubt that any new version of this bill will be subject to the same scrutiny.

What is SOPA?

It stands for: Stop Online Piracy Act. Sites like YouTube.com would be greatly affected because “intellectual property” could only be shared by the person who created it or with direct permission. This means, under this law if you were to post a YouTube video to Facebook, and you are not the owner of that video, you could be penalized with five years in jail, with the same penalties if you upload a photo that doesn’t belong to you. This would be the end of sites like Flickr, Etsy and funny sites like I Can Has Cheezburger. That’s right, no more LOLCats.

On the other hand, photos and video sharing has run rampant on the Internet for years with no signs of slowing down. The same photos of people doing embarrassing things get captioned something witty and show up all over the Web with no restraint. Celebrities and politicians are subjected to having their image photoshopped into unflattering and sometimes shocking photos that circulate through social media sites and pass as humor. The solution is not a simple one, however, a broadly defined law on the Internet is not the answer.

Sources:
Net-Rule Doubts Hit Congress:  wallstreetjournal.com

Don’t Censor the Web: googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com

It’s time to stop PROTECT IP: mattcutts.com

Stop Online Piracy Act: wikipedia.org 

Call your Senator and tell them no on SOPA and PIPA

 

AK, Lisa Murkowski, 907-456-0233
AL, Jefferson Sessions, 334-244-7017
AL, Richard Shelby, 205-759-5047
AR, Mark Pryor, 501-324-6336
AZ, Jon Kyl, 602-840-1891
AZ, John McCain, 602-952-2410
CA, Barbara Boxer, 510-286-8537
CA, Dianne Feinstein, 415-393-0707
CO, Michael Bennet, 303-455-7600
CT, Richard Blumenthal, 860-258-6940
CT, Joseph Lieberman, 860-549-8463
DE, Thomas Carper, 302-573-6291
DE, Chris Coons, 302-573-6345
FL, Bill Nelson, 407-872-7161
GA, C. Saxby Chambliss, 770-763-9090
GA, John Isakson, 770-661-0999
HI, Daniel Akaka, 808-522-8970
HI, Daniel Inouye, 808-541-2542
IA, Charles Grassley, 515-288-1145
IA, Thomas Harkin, 515-284-4574
ID, Michael Crapo, 208-334-1776
ID, James Risch, 208-342-7985
IL, Richard Durbin, 312-353-4952
IN, Daniel Coats, 317-554-0750
IN, Richard Lugar, 317-226-5555
KS, Pat Roberts, 913-451-9343
KY, Mitch McConnell, 502-582-6304
KY, Rob Portman, 361-576-1231
LA, Mary Landrieu, 225-389-0395
LA, David Vitter, 337-262-6898
MA, John Kerry, 617-565-8519
MD, Barbara Mikulski, 410-962-4510
ME, Susan Collins, 207-945-0417
ME, Olympia Snowe, 207-874-0883
MI, Carl Levin, 313-226-6020
MI, Debbie Stabenow, 517-203-1760
MN, Al Franken, 651-221-1016
MN, Amy Klobuchar, 612-727-5220
MO, Claire McCaskill, 816-421-1639
MS, Thad Cochran, 601-965-4459
MS, Roger Wicker, 601-965-4644
MT, Max Baucus, 406-657-6790
MT, Jon Tester, 406-449-5401
NC, Richard Burr, 910-251-1058
NC, Kay Hagan, 336-333-5311
ND, Kent Conrad, 701-258-4648
ND, John Hoeven, 701-250-4618
NE, E. Benjamin Nelson, 402-441-4600
NH, Kelly Ayotte, 603-622-7979
NH, Jeanne Shaheen, 603-647-7500
NJ, Frank Lautenberg, 973-639-8700
NJ, Robert Menendez, 973-645-3030
NM, Jeff Bingaman, 505-346-6601
NM, Tom Udall, 505-346-6791
NV, Dean Heller, 775-686-5770
NV, Harry Reid, 702-388-5020
NY, Kirsten Gillibrand, 212-688-6262
NY, Charles Schumer, 212-486-4430
OH, Sherrod Brown, 216-522-7272
OK, James Inhofe, 918-748-5111
OK, Tom Coburn, 918-581-7651
PA, Robert Casey, 570-941-0930
PA, Pat Toomey, 610-434-1444
RI, Sheldon Whitehouse, 401-453-5294
SC, Lindsey Graham, 864-250-1417
SD, Tim Johnson, 414-276-7282
SD, John Thune, 605-334-9596
TN, Lamar Alexander, 615-736-5129
TN, Bob Corker, 423-756-2757
TX, John Cornyn, 512-469-6034
TX, Kay Hutchison, 214-361-3500
UT, Mike Lee, 801-524-5933
VA, James Webb, 804-771-2221
VT, Patrick Leahy, 802-863-2525
VT, Bernard Sanders, 802-862-0697
WA, Patty Murray, 206-553-5545
WI, Ron Johnson, 605-332-8896
WI, Herbert Kohl, 414-297-4451
WV, Joe Manchin, 304-342-5855
WV, John Rockefeller, 304-347-5372
WY, John Barrasso, 307-261-6413
WY, Michael Enzi, 307-682-6268            *Senators who are not listed here are already opposed to PIPA (and) SOPA.