PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Wikipedia English has gone black to protest some America legislation. What is it? Basically, it’s copyright bullshit from certain (rather unproductive) corporations trying to backwards engineer the Internet into something they can control, essentially breaking the thing.
I think copyright and patent law, as on the books, is actually counter to the initial intent and counterproductive, but the PIPA and SOPA acts do go far beyond. In a nutshell, the problem it proposes to solve is online privacy. In doing so, however, it essentially makes sites like Facebook liable for whatever their users posts well beyond taking it down in a reasonable time. It also gives copyright holders the power to shut down entire foreign sites, which is still super shit. Services providers are also encouraged to block sites without any judicial oversight at all.
This bill is such a stinker that the Whitehouse has issued a statement saying it opposes any bill [ie, this bill] “that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”
So that’s why there’s no Wikipedia today. If there was ever a day to have old-school, unending bar debates, that would be today.
For more info check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s defenestration of the SOPA/PIPA bills and Wikipedia’s statement on the matter.
Oh damn!
Didn’t they shelve sopa