By: Sig Fredriksen
Following protests from several major Internet-based companies, the new bill designed to fight web piracy and sharing of copyrighted material has had its debut in congress delayed.
The bill, Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, has been met with mixed reactions after it became clear that if made into a law, it would give the US Attorney General the power to basically shut down any website that promoted, shared or had anything to do with American copyrighted material or counterfeit goods. The bill, which has the backing of Hollywood and most recording companies has been accused of giving the government the power to limit freedom of speech and censor the free web, violating the First Amendment.
Companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter are among those who have spoken out against SOPA, saying they support the fight against piracy yet it does not justify censorship of the web. On January 18 websites Google, Wikipedia, Flickr and Reddit along with over 150, 000 other, smaller websites went through with a verbal and visual protest against SOPA. Wikipedia took it as far as blacking out their whole website and displaying a banner to encourage people to help defend the free and open Internet.
Amanda Pennington (12) said “I think SOPA is ridiculous because where do you draw the line about censorship? If it is okay to censor the Internet then what would stop the authorities from censoring other things and violating freedom of speech, of the press and the First Amendment”. And the critics have been heard. Following the immense resistance, the House Judiciary Committee released a statement on January 20 saying it will “postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution.”
Asked about if the fight against piracy justifies censorship of the Internet, EHS teacher Tom Trotter said “Some things should probably be censored, things of national security, child pornography and stolen goods in that sense of the word, yet in this case it is not justified”. The delay puts a big question mark on the future of the bill, and for now, the internet and its many users can rest easy, knowing that their web-content will stay safe another day.