Stop Online Piracy Act Censorship

The SOPA video describes the dangers of the government getting involved when deciding how to punish those that pirate videos and music illegally. I thought the quote, “This legislation could hinder the free expression,” was really interesting, because it describes how slippery a slope it will be when corporations and Congress decide what constitutes copyright infringement.

The fact that the language in the proposed bills is purposely ambiguous makes me uncomfortable, because it signals to citizens that the government is giving themselves ample leeway in the future to trample our rights. Rather than punish the agencies and users overseas, all of the blame and punishment would be placed on the individual citizen. The article describes a lengthy, expensive, and somewhat convoluted method that the average person would be forced to partake in, should they get in trouble under the large wingspan of this bill.

I have honestly never thought about the Internet being fragile before, because I just assumed it was a mammoth machine that couldn’t be stopped. I was amazed and surprised by the fact that it would take very little to cripple or shut down the Internet.  The fact that there are miles upon miles of small, delicate, and unguarded cords that could be severed easily and at any time is quite mind-blowing.  I realize that it is impracticable for these cords to be patrolled, but it is frightening to think how easily it would be for someone with a grudge to cut some cords and systematically send us back to a different century.

I also found myself intrigued by the comparison of big-dog sites like Facebook to strip-mall chains such as Walmart.  It bothers me that popular websites can offer one-stop shopping that will virtually run the smaller sites out of business. I am realizing that I should be paying a lot more attention to what is going on with technology and the government, and that it is in my best interest to hold our elected officials to a higher standard, because apparently they won’t think twice when it comes to infringing on our rights.