Censorship Sucks
Welcome to the internet! Usually it's a place of nonsense, frolicking, and information (often in that order), but not so much today. I'm sure you've noticed that a lot of your favourite websites have been blacked out in protest of SOPA/PIPA.
So what exactly are SOPA and PIPA, anyway? Well, the main idea is to cut down on piracy and to protect intellectual property, which are both good goals. However, the method is... well, not so good. The terms are vague and easy to abuse, endangering most websites. Website A puts up a piece of fanart, which someone decides is unlawful and should be taken down. Instead of merely contacting the website owners to have it removed, however, SOPA and PIPA would just shut down the entire website. Not only that, but if Website B had a link to Website A, whether the link involved that piece of fanart or not, Website B could also be shut down for supporting and associating with unlawful fanart.
Extreme example? Yes, but not unthinkable.
"Well, that pretty much sucks," you say. "But I'm not sure what I can do about this. I'm not American!" Well, neither am I, so you're in good company. (Or so I'd like to think.) There's a petition for those of us who aren't American to sign, though, if you head on over to americancensorship.org and scroll about a third of the way down the page. And hey, if you are American, the same link gives you all sorts of things you can do.
Check it out. Because censorship sucks.
And tomorrow, I promise, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled nonsense.
So what exactly are SOPA and PIPA, anyway? Well, the main idea is to cut down on piracy and to protect intellectual property, which are both good goals. However, the method is... well, not so good. The terms are vague and easy to abuse, endangering most websites. Website A puts up a piece of fanart, which someone decides is unlawful and should be taken down. Instead of merely contacting the website owners to have it removed, however, SOPA and PIPA would just shut down the entire website. Not only that, but if Website B had a link to Website A, whether the link involved that piece of fanart or not, Website B could also be shut down for supporting and associating with unlawful fanart.
Extreme example? Yes, but not unthinkable.
"Well, that pretty much sucks," you say. "But I'm not sure what I can do about this. I'm not American!" Well, neither am I, so you're in good company. (Or so I'd like to think.) There's a petition for those of us who aren't American to sign, though, if you head on over to americancensorship.org and scroll about a third of the way down the page. And hey, if you are American, the same link gives you all sorts of things you can do.
Check it out. Because censorship sucks.
And tomorrow, I promise, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled nonsense.