Two anti-piracy bills trying to get passed right now are the
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) which are to
strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property
theft. Many internet companies like Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing, Mozilla,
WordPress, TwitPic, MoveOn.org and the ICanHasCheezBurger network are
participating in an internet blackout to protest the bills. Facebook and
Twitter are also against the bills but are not participating in the internet
blackout.
The music and film industries are for these bills to pass. There
are laws that already protect against copyright like Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA), but SOPA and PIPA will target the platform -- that is,
the site hosting the unauthorized content. These bills would give the Justice
Department power to cut off ties with US internet service providers and the
foreign internet companies. This could stop foreign countries from selling
stolen or counterfeit goods to the US. Content groups argue that innovation and
jobs in content-creating industries are threatened by growing Internet piracy.
I think that if these bills are passed, that they could help the US stop a lot of people from using the internet for illegal activity. I would definitely support this bill to get it passed, it would have its pros and cons but if its pros out ways the cons, which I think they do, then it would benefit most of the US.
