SOPA, PIPA Bills Temporarily Postponed
On Wednesday, Jan. 18 2012, major websites like Wikipedia and Google protested their opposition to SOPA and PIPA legislation, gaining major support from the public against these bills.
“I would say [the bills] are meant to cut down on information on the web that isn’t used with permission… I think the bills have good intentions, but I think some people are confused as to what would be against the laws, and I think maybe the laws should be more specific,” said senior Jennifer Gfeller.
While the bills may be trying to offer a helping hand by protecting people from what is rightfully theirs, SOPA and PIPA would also infringe on people’s internet freedoms.
“SOPA and PIPA are copyright laws that [would] inhibit you from viewing many of the sights we know of today…Therefore, the wide range of the matter would shut down too many websites,” said junior Tristan Jappa.
Wikipedia’s blackout and Google’s unusual homepage, among others, raised awareness of these bills and gained much support.
Patrick May from Mercury News reported that, “By late afternoon, the strike website’s visitors had clicked through to send 350,000 emails to Congress and “sopa” had been tweeted 3 million times, according to the tweet-metering site Topsy.”
While the MPAA and RIAA deemed the blackout a stunt, it brought attention to the bills which failed in both the House and Senate.
“Wikipedia and Google are arguably the biggest contributors to the internet. When you have almost these ‘founding fathers’ protest something with such force, then there isn’t a doubt that an impression will be made,” said Jappa.
Both SOPA and PIPA have been temporarily postponed; open once again to revisions from other Congressmen. In addition, a new piece of legislation titled the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) has been brought forth for consideration in the House of Representatives by Congressman Darrell Issa.
Written by Isabella Cova