Wednesday, January 18, 2012

SOPA and PIPA

I was just reading Mary Simonsen's blog and came across this delightful video "trailer" mash-up of Beauty and The Beast/Pride and Prejudice and it put me in mind of the war that is being raged on the internet in regards to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and The "Protect IP" Act (PIPA). You can (and should) read about the particulars here. While some politicians argue that these acts are designed only to stop copyright infringement and piracy, the wording of these bills speak otherwise. If these things pass, witty little diversions that are just for fun, like this video, would be enough to shut my blog down. Pinterest would likely be gone. And who knows what other censorship would occur? So Austenites, watch this adorable video (slightly different than the one posted above) and go sign a petition to protest SOPA and PIPA and to protect Internet Freedom.

2 comments:

  1. Tara, Something does need to be done, but you are correct, this is a law rife with unintended consequences. But they must keep working on it. I have had hundreds of books downloaded illegally. There are some who have had tens of thousands. It's just wrong! Thanks for bringing attention to it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish I could reply directly! Come on Google! Anyway, I agree with you wholeheartedly- my fear is that the bill as it stands will be enforced for big corporations and not so much for authors and artists. I hope they can find a solution that makes sense and works, for the right reasons.

    ReplyDelete