SOPA & PIPA are threatening the Internet
The US government is going to pass a law in about two weeks that will allow the recording and movie industries to effectively shut down any website that so much as links to what it determines to be copyrighted material. Even talking about how to download illegal material, or simply discussing that it exists will be enough to sue site owners and have their websites blocked. Sites that exist outside of US borders will have their domain names blocked, by law, by any US ISP.
This will change the web as it is now forever. YouTube never would have gotten off the ground had this law existed when it started. Facebook and Twitter will no longer be free and open forums. Google search results will be further filtered. Real, valuable content and the free flow of information that is the Internet will be hidden away forever. We have freedom of speech and freedom of the press in this country, but if this law is passed, those freedoms won’t extend to the Internet and will effectively be policed by the entertainment industry.
Please watch this video and then write to your congressmen and attend a town hall or at least spread the word in your social circles.