We did it! We sent SOPA and PIPA packing, at least for now. The bills will likely come back in some form, but we’ll be ready for them. We’ve set a precedent now that will require them to write airtight bills that can do the web community no harm before we’ll let them see the light of day.
Issues of copyright, censorship, free speech, our basic rights and privacy have been in trouble for a long time, this isn’t news. But, things are about to very potentially get much much worse, free speech on the internet is in serious danger…
Why Haven’t You Heard About This?
Save the Internet has shed some light on the subject. The very companies that are for a devastatingly more controlled and censored internet (in their favor) are the very same companies that control the news.
Now That I’ve Got You Reading, Actually Learn About It
The following video bullet points some very real concerns.
As a blogger and web designer and overall avid user of the internet I have to admit that I’m pretty freaked out. I ask you to please boycott companies that support SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).
Most notably, GoDaddy took a huge hit in it’s customer base (including giant Wikipedia) moving over to other hosting companies after a boycott because of the outrage that they support SOPA, a boycott I’d been pushing long before this. For years now, I’ve been spreading the word about what a horrible web host GoDaddy is. I find it hard to believe Wikipedia was using GoDaddy to begin with.
Like many things, SOPA and PIPA (Protect IP Act) are sugar coated as “good” things with lots of lies, scare tactics and propaganda to go around. But the truth is it’s about more money in more pockets. Not morals, not about our freedoms or betterment. It’s about greed, that’s it, plain and simple.
How Can You Help?
Google, Wikipedia, WordPress and many other huge internet companies are taking action.
http://americancensorship.org/ (a project of Fight for the Future) – This is pretty much the home base of the entire protest. Listed, are many resources and many ways in which you can tangibly write to congress, help spread the word and protest.
One way you can protest is to spread the word by censoring your own logo, with a link to americancensorship.org which as you can see I’ve done myself. I’ve also blackened out my website to hopefully get people’s attention on the issue. Learn more about the strike.
It almost brings me to tears thinking about how litigious and greedy this country is. I have pretty strong feelings about freedom of speech and enough is enough.
Visit http://americancensorship.org/ and find the signup widget below. Take some time out of your day and put just enough effort in to at least share this article with a friend, but hopefully do more.
Also, although I should have been following this issue more closely I’ve fallen a bit behind on all the many faces and angles of this issue so I hope the conversation get’s going in the comments area below.
Thanks for reading, Bryan
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