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Unless you were on a remote trek in the arctic today with no internet reception, it was nearly impossible not to notice the online protests against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).  These U.S. bills aim to censor the Internet, infringe on our liberties and grow the power of the federal government.  Major web sites from Google to Wikipedia, in addition to countless smaller sites, have gone to various measures to demonstrate their opposition to the two bills that are currently before Congress.  Wikipedia shut down its site entirely for the day (visitors can still perform a search but they are redirected to a blackout page with more information about SOPA and PIPA).  Google covered its logo with a black bar, censoring itself for a day.

This Anti SOPA shirt post is our way of drawing your attention to this issue.  Yes, it deviates a bit from our normal themes but too much is at stake to not help to raise awareness.  While we agree that fighting online piracy is important (we ourselves have had a significant amount of our research and copywritten content stolen from a movie history site we operate), forcing American search engines, web hosts, domain registrars, blogs and social networks to become the intermediary censors of the Internet will not only significantly hinder its development, it will put thousands of American businesses in jeopardy while opening the door for the government to expand its power.  For example, if a user on Facebook posts a link to another web site that hosts a copywritten song or image, Facebook could itself be held accountable.  Would venture capitalists be willing to invest in sites if they knew that the government was lurking over their shoulders, waiting to take their money through fines or shut the sites down entirely?  Further benefiting the government, big sites like Facebook might respond by putting lobby money in the pockets of Congress.

Let’s be clear, SOPA and PIPA are NOT about online piracy.  They are about the government attempting to control the Internet.  These two bills are nothing more than the back door that they have created in order to get in, and the vague language in the bills immediately gives the government overreaching power that will be disastrous to our liberties.  Let’s not forget the Fairness Doctrine, which was the FCC’s attempt to control broadcast media, instead of letting public demand and the free market decide how controversial and political subjects should be discussed on the radio.  With SOPA and PIPA, the government is again attempting to dictate what we see and hear, which could, for example, be devastating to future political candidates, not to mention society as a whole.  If you oppose these bills, get behind your position with this Stop SOPA t-shirt and contact your members of Congress to let them know where you stand.

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