Help Stop SOPA/PIPA

ACT NOW is participating in a widespread protest of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate corollary (Protect IP), and our site will be unavailable on Wednesday, January 18th.

The bills, written largely by self-interested juggernauts like the Motion Picture Association of America (whose revolving door to Washington recently let in scandal-plagued former Senator Chris Dodd to assume its chairmanship) and GoDaddy, represent the most brazen and corrupt forms of lobbying and influence-peddling. It abrogates our government’s responsibility to enforce its own laws, handing the policing of online activity to corporate copyright holders, who would be authorized to shut down sites they suspected of infringement. No due process, no innocent-until-proven-guilty, no impartial judiciary.

So today we protest by painting for you, intrepid digital traveler, a picture of what the internet might look like if such a law should pass. Would YouTube or Wikipedia be blocked when a user uploaded content that violated a copyright, rather than simply being asked to remove it? Would political speech like ACT NOW’s be stifled on flimsy charges? Or would we all just stop making our thoughts, videos, images, rants, art, and writing publicly available in the first place, for fear of reaping draconian repercussions should we fail to adhere to an unnecessarily byzantine set of restrictions?

It sounds like dystopian fiction, we know, but we think any and all of the above are likely results of this miserable piece of legislation. And we’re far from alone in that fear.

If this is the first you’re hearing about SOPA/PIPA, take a moment to watch the video above and learn more.

Then head on over to Stop American Censorship, where they’ll help you generate letters to Congress, and even lobby them on your own behalf (how cool is the internet?).

Please also consider contacting your representatives. If you’re here in New York like us, you can start with our Senators, and ask them to stand against Protect IP (out-of-state readers can find their Senators here):

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

Phone: 202-224-4451
Fax: 202-225-1168
Website
Contact Form
Address: 478 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

Sen. Charles Schumer (D)

Phone: 202-224-6542
Fax: 202-228-3027
Website
Contact Form
Address: 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

Then call your House Representative and ask her to oppose SOPA.

If you value ACT NOW (or, for that matter, any other blog, services, social network, or media hub you access through your browser), then you value the free and open internet that makes it possible. Please join us in opposing this corrupt and dangerous legislation.

UPDATE:

This beautiful TED talk is the most concise and compelling summation of the dangers posed by SOPA and PIPA I’ve yet come across. Must watch. –kenan