SOPA and PIPA bills: Old Answers to 21st-Century Problems, Critics Say

On January 18, 2012, a concerted protest by high-profile Web companies and organizations climaxed in what was months of fierce outcry against the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). Wikipedia's English-language pages, for instance, went completely black, while Google put a big black box over the prominent logo on its home page, with a link to a page from which users could sign a petition entitled "Tell Congress: Don't censor the Web." Street protests have also been scheduled for that date in cities including New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.

If SOPA was to be passed, movie studios and record labels would have the ability to tear down foreign websites that infringe on their copyrights. They could demand that Google remove everything from that website from its search engine, make advertising companies no longer deal with that site, but most importantly, they could have the site made no longer able to be visited. SOPA would not only target illegal downloading sites like Pirate Bay or uTorrent, it would affect sites like YouTube. Essentially, SOPA would create an Internet blacklist.

The reality is that both SOPA supporters and the protesters have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed, but the potential impact of SOPA is far broader than the legislators likely anticipated and it is an outdated solution for 21st century problems.

For additional information, please visit:
http://bit.ly/ykrwBf

For a copy of the SOPA bill, please visit:
http://on.wsj.com/wj7jxk

Volume X

SOPA and PIPA bills: Old Answers to 21st-Century Problems, Critics Say