December 17th, 2011: Just as a quick note: This journal is long, so if you're going to read it...be prepared for a long and important read.

An NSider friend of mine, , who I've known for quite a long time recently posted a journal about a certain subject, and it prompted me to decide to write my own journal regarding this issue he wrote about to raise more awareness to my own friends and watchers.  You can read his journal here: [link]

You may have heard of this already (chances are highly likely that if you've been around the internet, you've at least heard mention of it...even if you don't know what it actually is) but the subject of this journal is to raise awareness and involvement of two United States bills being debated by Congress called the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act)...particularly SOPA right now being the most urgent to be aware of for the time being.  Here is a useful video that describes what SOPA is and how it would affect you: [link] It's an American issue that could affect not only Americans, but those across the globe with access to the internet who typically visit American websites like YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and maybe even deviantART itself.  These bills are aimed at stopping piracy online as well as protecting copyrights...but as a consequence in doing so, it could potentially censor your online viewing experience and criminalize online activity that has until now been deemed legal.  Commonplace examples that would be considered outlawed by these new bills would more than likely include posting an embedded video from YouTube on your site of an artist's music video, posting a video of kids dancing to a particular song, posting game and product reviews and walkthroughs, posting an image of something on your Facebook wall to share with your friends, and much more more.  These corresponding bills are being touted as necessary and beneficial and thus Congress thinks the American opposition to their efforts is blowing the consequences of these bills out of proportion.  But the real truth is, is that these concerns are legitimate and are fair cause for concern because it could change the currently free and open internet landscape forever.  Much awareness has been spread so much so to the point that it has no longer become just an American issue but a global one as well, since it would affect millions of everyday internet users.  Most people such as myself have no problem with protecting the rights of copyright holders and intellectual property, but SOPA and PIPA are not the ways to go about them.  They could jeopardize free speech protected by the First Amendment guaranteed in the US Constitution, and punish innocent internet users for the most trivial of reasons.  The SOPA bill was recently debated upon by the House Committee overseeing the bill but delayed for a vote which will take place on December 21st, 2011 so it may be reviewed by the House of Representatives ...and now is the time to show the strongest united front of opposition to the bills.

I've been signing every petition I can, trying to raise as much awareness to others as I can, and have even been emailing my senators and congressman about it. Today I've also been emailing major news networks like CNN and MSNBC urging them to cover a story about the bill to give it real mainstream news coverage because curiously, news coverage of these bills in the mainstream media has been largely absent. I fully urge others to email their state representatives, call them, sign petitions, email news outlets, spread the word via social media and networks...anything.

Here is a post on Reddit detailing how you can email news outlets to voice your support for them to cover a story about the bills: [link]

If you don't feel like typing your own email to these news networks explaining the situation, I am more than happy to share my own email I sent them word for word that you can go ahead and copy/paste to them as your own:

"Please consider giving some mainstream news coverage to the recent SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) bills that are currently being debated on by Congress. These bills are aimed at stopping piracy and protecting copyrighted material across the open and free internet, but while well-intentioned, they would both hand-in-hand create a colossal nightmare for the internet and its future. They would take away the right to freedom of speech which is protected by the First Amendment in the United States Constitution, and could easily be exploited to brand almost anyone who is innocent as a criminal. It would give the federal government the chance to shut down any site they deemed not fit to be visited and it would also force ISP providers to control a customer's browsing experience. It could threaten cyber security and take away jobs that people depend on for a living. Not to mention, it would also stifle creativity, social media and interactions, and innovation. In a nutshell, it's censorship anyway you look at it. The United States has lambasted countries such as China and Iran for censoring their nation's internet content...and now we could possibly see hypocrisy at its worst when we the United States follow in their footsteps. This bill is being rushed out without much thought and without input from valuable experts in their field who could offer knowledgeable insight into the potential dangers of this bill. Almost every amendment sought to decrease the bill's consequences has been voted down and rejected, intent on keeping as much of the original intact as possible...and if enacted into law, would reshape the internet landscape as we've known it into an era of fear and uncertainty, and blatant censorship. Major news organizations have barely, if not even at all, covered these twin corresponding bills in the media and press. It's time to put the public spotlight onto it so Americans are more aware of what may be unfortunately coming and ways they can get involved to let their voices be heard about where they stand on the bills. Please consider running a news story or a series of news stories to cover these bills. It would be greatly appreciated not just by myself, but millions of others just like me. Thank you."

Here is the post on DemandProgress.org, that you can send an automated email (or send your own if you wish to fill in the blank post):  [link] And the most recent version you can send: [link]

They're planning a committee session on Wednesday December 21st, 2011 at 9 AM to vote on the bill once again. They announced this new date quietly, making others think they would wait until after the holidays into next year but that is simply not the case and the new vote is only a few days away.

Please do whatever you can to stop the United States Congress from passing this bill.  The future of the open and free internet depends on it.

January 17th, 2012 Update: SOPA is still very much alive, despite strong opposition from across the internet...from Silicon Valley to individual game developers to the White House...down to the ordinary people like you and me.  According to this article: [link] , the bill is being delayed until sometime in February for more committee debate (see under 'Publicity Stunt' section).  We also cannot forget that PIPA is too very much alive and we must keep the opposition strong, united, and ongoing.  Some websites such as Reddit and Wikipedia will be going dark tomorrow to protest the legislation, and Google will have a home page protest as well.  Here is an infographic site that will keep you on top of SOPA/PIPA: [link] Keep spreading the word, keep signing petitions, do whatever you can to make sure we send a clear message that we will not allow nor tolerate such terrible legislation to pass.  The future of the internet and our civil liberties depends on it.

January 21st, 2012 Update: SOPA and PIPA have been officially shelved in Congress: [link] Meaning, they've bowed to pressure due to the massive widespread protests and for the time being will not pursuing these bills in their current form.  This is a clear victory for grassroots democracy and for the opposition movement.  However, just because these bills are on the backburner for now does NOT mean the opposition can let their guard down now.  The very idea of the bills, to "combat internet piracy", is unlikely to go away any time soon and will most likely come back down the road whether it involves these bills in some shape or form or not.  In fact, another lesser known "bill" which involves multiple countries signing onto it that is still floating around, is a treaty called "ACTA", or "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.  Here is some more information on this particular treaty which very much like SOPA and PIPA, needs to go away for good: [link] [link] [link] Which is why it's important to keep the opposition alive even if for now, it may seem safe.  Thanks to all who joined in the call to protect our open and free internet--we need to make sure it stays that way from now and into the future for our generation and for others.

January 20th, 2012 Update: Really sorry for all these updates about these censorship bills, and I honestly wasn't counting on updating again yet so soon, but this is a new update that was brought to my attention by .  This new bill, I don't think, has as wide a scope as SOPA/PIPA do since they would apply to foreign countries as well, so this is more of national issue that affects internet customers here in the US.  You can read about it here in *TomPreston's journal: [link] It's a bill called H.R. 1981 (abbreviated to PCFIPA) that was created last year by the very same author and sponsor of SOPA, Lamar Smith, that will likely be voted upon sometime this year.  There are concerns brought up about the right to your privacy when browsing around online in terms of ISPs being required by this bill to literally hold a record of your browsing history under virtual lock and key for a year that could be accessible by the government if they felt the need to access it whenever it came down to performing financial dealings over the internet (i.e; looking at your bank statement or purchasing something with a credit card), in the name of protecting against "illegal content" that I refuse to name in this journal (you'll learn more about it in his journal).  Not only would it invade internet users' right to privacy, but a lot of people also seem to think of this as a way to get some part of their internet censorship in too, so they could nail you if they see something in your browsing history that they don't like.  It's said that the ISP would then inform you ahead of time if they were going to check to supposedly take steps to protect yourself, but still...really?  Some think that SOPA may have just been a smokescreen for this bill, so that way it'd be hard to refuse acceptance of this bill since it allegedly protects against such "illegal content".  While I of course am all for protecting against such content, this bill seems to serve little to no purpose of doing what it was allegedly created to do, and seems more like a way for the government to yet again take away our internet rights and general right to privacy for their own control of power.  It would surely lead to even more uncertainty every time you browsed your favorite sites, wondering if it was even safe to be doing so out of fear of the government's power and eye on what your unique internet browsing experience is like.  Not to mention, with your personal information readily available to them, anyone who was good at it could easily hack into their system and obtain valuable information on you.  Lamar Smith is insane, and a control freak--he is literally desperate to do whatever it takes to pass legislation that gives the government more power and puts money in his pocket.  Lamar Smith needs to voted out of office by the time the next election arrives in his district in Texas, and I'm hoping if he does indeed run opposed, that he gets voted out and voted out by a candidate that stands with us on such rights.  This bill NEEDS to never happen, and although it seems absurd that such a bill would ever pass...in this day in age when SOPA nearly came close to passing, you can't take any chances.  The word needs to be spread about this bill, so that we can erode support for it before it gets any further.  Yes, again, I am absolutely and wholeheartedly dedicated to protecting against such "illegal content", but this bill misses its aim and instead would be yet another government tool to snoop around in your life.  It's pretty sad that this bill is using such a powerful subject as a way to get what they really want.  Just thought I'd give another head's up.

You can read more about this bill at the following links: [link] [link] [link] [link]

Keep spreading the word, educate yourself, and do what you can to keep the opposition ongoing.



Thanks for reading.
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