Yesterday, if you noticed, a lot of websites – Google, Craigslist, Wikipedia – took part in a blackout protest of two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Protect IP Act in the Senate.
Google blackout
At first, I gave the legislation little thought, not knowing how it would affect my internet freedoms and millions of others around the world. But, after reading this Poynter article on what the SOPA blackout really looks like, I understood. “The legislation’s intent is to capture websites that engage in criminal copyright infringement and counterfeiting as well as those that promote services or products to circumvent the legislation’s provisions.”
Even one of the colleges at Syracuse University took part in the blackout.
School of Information Studies at Syracuse University
Alas, the bills lost support yesterday, including 26 Senators who originally supported it. According to CNN.com, “The protest seemed to change the minds of lawmakers, including those that had strongly backed the bills in the past.”
And, good to hear Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a former co-sponsor, said he had “legitimate concerns” about the bill and the Senate should “avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences,” including “a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government’s power to impact the Internet.”
The whole thing prompted a deep conversation for Journalism students yesterday. We talked about the first amendment and the five freedoms it awards.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
