Ever since the Internet became commonplace in people’s homes, the premise of censorship has always been a diverse and controversial issue, mainly because everyone has a different perspective of “where to draw the line” when it comes to the idea of censorship. Just recently, censorship has come more into the spotlight with the recent introduction of the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA).
If you are unsure of what the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) is all about, I have provided an elaborate definition below from its Wikipedia page:
“The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R.3261 and the E-PARASITE (Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation) Act, was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith [R-TX] and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill’s sponsors and advocates say it is needed to help U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders fight online traffic in copyrighted intellectual property and ensuing revenue and job losses. Its opponents say it is censorship that it will “break the internet,” cost jobs, and that it will threaten whistleblowers and other free speech. Now before the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008. The Senate’s corresponding bill, the Protect IP Act, was prevented from passing in early 2011 with a hold placed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).”
With this topic being so frequent in the media lately, our WebProNews writing staff has been heavily involved in following this topic. For your convenience, I have provided a list of the most recently published articles regarding SOPA below:
- A Handy SOPA Infographic – Get as much information about SOPA as you can
- Does Anyone Support SOPA? – Will SOPA fall apart due to public dissension?
- SOPA Meets Massive Resistance – The backlash finally begins
- SOPA’s Internet Censorship Finds Bipartisan Opposition On Twitter – Pelosi, Issa agree that the legislation is the wrong move
To find more information on WebProNews about SOPA, be sure to check out the SOPA tag page.
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