Internet Community Opposes Pending Legislation

In an unprecedented move, the internet community banded together today to protest legislation scheduled for vote in the United States Congress. Thousands of sites, including Google, Wiki, and Firefox, participated in today’s protest.

The protest was aimed at the  Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill which was intended to stop copyright infringement and piracy, but goes much further. Most agree, as we do here at ProTech, that SOPA and it’s counterpart PIPA, amount to censorship of the internet and violate free speech.

We urge everyone to contact their legislators in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to oppose these issues. While piracy and copyright infringements are serious problems, these measures would drastically change the internet and how each of us use it daily.

PC World does a good job giving a quick overview of SOPA and PIPA in this article.

NOTE: Within a few days, both of these bills were tabled indefinitely. Most of the original sponsors rescinded their sponsorship in an attempt to distance themselves. Both the Congressional switchboard and web site were overwhelmed most of the day with protesters.  However, experts warn the fight is not over. Other bills have been introduced  that would have the same outcome as these.