SOPA and PIPA bills face protests this wednesday
Internet users that normally have access to websites as Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, and others, had a different experience this Wednesday (18). It was the chosen date to protest against the SOPA and PIPA bills that are being discussed by American politicians in order to discover a new way to fight back piracy. While congressmen try to reach an agreement, companies against its approval found their own way to speak up.
Wikipedia’s Free Knowledge
Considering the Wikipedia site specifically, the English version was blacked-out during the entire day, as a way to show what the Internet can be like without the possibility of sharing free knowledge. Besides the fact that Wikipedia’s usual readers could not use the tool to search for contents on the Internet, the foundation also posted an article about their official position on the subject.
According to Wikipedia’s text, “SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won’t be effective at their stated goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won’t have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn’t being infringed.”
Social Networks Against
Besides Wikipedia, Facebook is another company that goes against the approval of the SOPA and PIPA bills. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and executive, posted on the social network that “the Internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet’s development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet. The world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet.”
What most of these companies might face, if the bills go through as they are written at the moment, is being punished for posts published by individuals. YouTube, for instance, could be brought down if a video was available without the correct authorization. However, such websites function with the sharing of all of its users.