I don’t usually speak up about political issues. Maybe I should do more. Today, it is one of those necessities.
Perhaps this is one good example of where the “Occupy Movement” has a good case against corporate influence in Congress, for the entertainment industry is trying to get Congress to act in such a way that the entirety of the Internet is endanger, including this web site.
Today, web sites such as Wikipedia and Google have inaugurated a one-day protest to stop two bills: SOPA in the US House of Representatives and PIPA in the US Senate. These bills go way beyond copyright and protection against piracy but give authorities the right to shut down web sites without any kind of grievance or redress, merely on suspicion or linking to content that is copyrighted. The copyright laws in existence are adequate and enforceable. What if someone speaks up about this injustice? Are we a “security risk?”
As a journalist, this type of legislation is a slap in the face of freedom of speech and press, and is a pat on the back of censorship by corporate interests. If these bills, loaded with censorship, pass in their present form, you and I may find ourselves under closer scrutiny of the watchful eye of a government that is more concerned about corporations than the Bill of Rights that ensures our freedoms.
I wonder what Edward R. Murrow would have to say about this?
Brent
Editor’s Note: If you visited earlier, you saw a pop-up screen protesting two bills in Congress that greatly impact the Internet. The pop-up was performing well, and you would have seen it only one time. I have deactivated the plugin installed for the Stop SOPA movement. Apparently, too many people clicked through from here and the thousands of other web sites to the Stop SOPA web site. It apparently overloaded and caused a server failure, consequently impacting the pop-up installed here. I am sure the Stop SOPA movement will be a top story on the network evening news. Thanks for your support. (12:36 pm EST)