Frostheim at Warcraft Hunters Union: On the Tuesday 24th January 2012, the US Senate will vote on the internet censorship bill. While SOPA (the congress version) voting has been delayed, it is not dead and the senate version, PIPA, is still coming to a vote. This legislation is terrible for internet users, for privacy, for freedom of speech, and for the structure of the internet. Dangerously so. Among other things, it could make all WoW videos illegal and any site linking to them or embedding them could be taken down and removed from search engine results without even a court order. Sites like Facebook or Twitter would be required to censor their users’ posts, since they would be liable for what their users say or what they link to — similarly I could go to jail for 5 years if someone posted a comment on the WHU linking to a video of someone singing karaoke. These bills are really that bad… and they really could pass.
The bills are backed heavily by the movie and music industries, who are spending millions in lobbying dollars to push anit-piracy legislation that is ill-thought. I’m all for stopping piracy, but these bills are terrible. There are many companies against SOPA & PIPA, including Google, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, (as well as many in favor) and today the WHU is lending its weight to the argument by going dark for the day.
If you want to learn more about SOPA/PIPA, watch the video below, or read this excellent article on dangerous provisions in the bills. These bills are being furiously rewritten and are continuously changing, and one point of political speculation is that SOPA was deliberately written to be overly inflammatory just to get the only slight less horrendously evil PIPA or following legislation passed. Seriously, please contact your senators and let them know that you oppose PIPA — we have to have enough voices to be louder than the big bucks backing the bill.
Thank you,
Frostheim
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