You probably haven't head of SOPA before, but here i'll explain what SOPA is. Internet giants like Wikipedia, Wiki leaks, Google, Reddit and Facebook are some of those who are against it.
SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. It is a bill working on the American Congress.
Its Goals
According to Rep. Goodlatte, "Intellectual property is one of America's chief job creators and competitive advantages in the global marketplace, yet American inventors, authors, and entrepreneurs have been forced to stand by and watch as their works are stolen by foreign infringers beyond the reach of current U.S. laws. This legislation will update the laws to ensure that the economic incentives our Framers enshrined in the Constitution over 220 years ago—to encourage new writings, research, products and services— remain effective in the 21st century's global marketplace, which will create more American jobs."
Rights-holders see intermediaries—the companies who host, link to, and provide e-commerce around the content—as the only accessible defendants.
Sponsor Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said, "Millions of American jobs hang in the balance, and our efforts to protect America's intellectual property are critical to our economy's long-term success." Smith added, "The Stop Online Piracy Act helps stop the flow of revenue to rogue websites and ensures that the profits from American innovations go to American innovators."
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) representative who testified before the committee said that the motion picture and film industry supported two million jobs and 95,000 small businesses.
Protection against counterfeit drugs
Pfizer spokesman John Clark testified that patients could not always detect cleverly forged websites selling drugs that were either mis-branded or simply counterfeit.
RxRights, a consumer advocacy group, issued a statement saying that Clark failed "to acknowledge that there are Canadian and other international pharmacies that do disclose where they are located, require a valid doctor's prescription and sell safe, brand-name medications produced by the same leading manufacturers as prescription medications sold in the U.S." They had earlier said that SOPA "fails to distinguish between counterfeit and genuine pharmacies" and would prevent American patients from ordering their medications from Canadian pharmacies online.
Bill sponsor Smith accused Google of obstructing the bill, citing its $500 million settlement with the DOJ on charges that it allowed ads from Canadian pharmacies, leading to illegal imports of prescription drugs.Shipment of prescription drugs from foreign pharmacies to customers in the US typically violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Controlled Substances Act.
watch this video for a better understanding about SOPA
In other words it will give content creator a huge power over the internet.
SOPA squarely aims to foreign offenders and focuses on cutting off sources of funding and traffic (generally US-based) rather than directly attacking a targeted site, which is outside the US legal jurisdiction. But tha's just part of it.
Chances are creating an "Internet Blacklist"...
PROTECT- IP is a bill introduced in the US Senate and House and is moving quickly through congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting "creativity"
The US government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. With this bill sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it would be considered an illegal behavior. This bill is bad for creativity and will not protect your rights
If that happens no more You tube, no more Facebook, sharing is dead.
Probably most of us doesn't live in the US but this bill will effect the worldwide web because internet giants are mostly based in America, and we rely on those companies for information, business, and many more. If SOPA passed, then it would be the end for my blogging career.
