(Megavideo after it's shutdown)
On October 26th of 2011, the Stop Online Piracy Act (better known as SOPA) was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Lamar Smith. On January 18th of this year, there was a major protest against this act by many websites, with Wikipedia having a blackout for an entire day. Why? Because, this pending law that might seem like it's doing the right thing can potentially cause a internet breakdown. In agreement with many other internet users, I believe that SOPA along with it's similar bill, PIPA, does more harm than good for people all around the world; we must fight for our internet.
Here is one reason why we should do everything to fight against SOPA; because we should fight for our right to knowledge. Article 19 of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights states that, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." This means that any human being is free to say what they think, and also search and find information through media such as the internet, with no limits. If SOPA is passed, our right will be denied, and this is why: SOPA allows the U.S. government to block or censor websites they believe are infringing copyright, even (especially) if it's not American. They have named these sites as "rogue web sites". The reason this matters is because if a site is accused and convicted of violating copyright laws, they have a limited time where they must rid it's site of the copyrighted material, or users will be denied access to the site. Does anyone see the problem with this? As it is said in this anonymous video, the U.S. government cannot restrict or have control over something they do not even own. As members of the internet, we must be aware and protect what is ours.
The main reason SOPA was created was because of the overwhelming amount of pirated material on the internet. In a letter to the New York Times, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claimed that, "rogue web sites that steal America's innovative and creative products attract more than 53 billion visits a year and threaten more than 19 million American jobs. It is true, piracy is a crime, and it must be stopped. But is SOPA the right solution? SOPA gives the U.S. government the ability to shut down these rogue websites. But it isn't just sites like Megavideo and 4shared that are infringing copyright material, it is even sites like YouTube that are made of user content, for even a child singing a song that was created elsewhere (a song the child doesn't own) is technically an act of piracy. SOPA would be policing not only violation of copyright material that actually affect the owners, but also the harmless ones. Also in my opinion, if SOPA were to pass, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would be being hypocritical, for there are so many videos in YouTube of people making "creative" and "innovative" covers with already existent songs, such as MysteryGuitarMan. If SOPA were to pass and these videos censored, wouldn't that be stealing even more "innovative and creative products"?
The final, and possibly the most important, reason we should fight against SOPA is because the internet is a part of our lives, and SOPA threatens to break this. According to an article by The Telegraph, teenagers spend an average of 31 hours online per week. Sure, too much media consumption is unhealthy, but this shows that the internet is a big part of people's lives, especially Generation Z. The bill's opponents claim that with all the blocking of sites, the internet could potentially break down. Even if it doesn't, the internet will never be the same without all the user operated sites such as YouTube, 9Gag, Tumblr, and even Blogger. The internet is how we communicate with each other: our friends, our family, and the rest of the world. The internet is part of our society and in a way, it even defines the people in this time period. Restrictions in the internet will change the way we live, and perhaps we will be taking one step back in technology. As active members of the internet, we should not idly sit by while some people plan to take a part of us away.
Thankfully, Rep. Lamar Smith has pulled the SOPA bill. But we should be aware; SOPA was merely a continuation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and for all we know SOPA could reappear anytime, with a different name. SOPA was pulled due to the amount of protest, which involved many of us internet users taking one simple measure to take a stand by making calls and signing online petitions. This time, we have successfully fought for our rights, for our internet. This should teach us that the power of a many can overcome any obstacle. This teaches us that our voice counts. This teaches us that change is possible.
