Websites "Blackout" to Protest SOPA and PIPA
Wikipedia, Reddit, BoingBoing, Mozilla, MoveOn.org and many others have all gone dark for the day. It’s part of a move to boycott two controversial anti-piracy bills: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act (PIPA). If you’re one of the nearly two billion people who use the internet, then the chances are these two bills could make a big impact on your life, if they are passed.
PIPA and SOPA Explained
PIPA and SOPA call for a crackdown on copyright infringment by restricting access to sites that host pirated material. SOPA targets overseas “rogue” sites that offer illegal digital downloads of movies and music. Battling piracy is nothing new (Napster, anyone?) but taking action against foreign sites can be difficult. Meantime, critics of SOPA say its a matter of defending online freedom. Jon Tennent, a Campus Ambassador for Wikipedia, says, “These bills are overreaching… It’s a dangerous legal environment […]