SOPA and PIPA and the New Lobby

Welcome to a new world! The world when freedom can actually have a voice and the most money will not always sway the tides!

This week the internet posed a protest against the removal of one of the greatest assets of american freedom, internet completeness. The internet is the one untouched freedom that is still available in our world. Sure the United States started off with the same premise but, over time there were filters put on what people could do. Now you can spend life in prison because you are caught with a plant that could be
grown in your back yard. At the same time you could be found guilty of murder and spend less time in prison than the plant owner.

There are many things that can be polluted by outside sources enforcing their will on congress. Wednesday was a bit different than most days, Wednesday the internet fought back. Hundreds of sites either shut down or linked to places where you could call your congressmen to inform them that they are following the wrong path. SOPA and PIPA are legislation that would censor the internet based on what corporations such as the RIAA and MPAA feel are "Copyright Infringement". These two companies and companies like them would be able to shutdown websites that they do not approve of.

This kind of power would be extreme for any company/government to have. The internet allows sharing of ideas in an unprecedented fashion. The beauty of this is that ideas previously held out of the public eye have now begun to be discussed. Now with the legislation pending, we are lucky that the internet is big enough to fight off these interests. The only thing that Google did to fight this legislation was censor their logo. This was enough to get 7 Million users to sign a petition against the legislation, in just one day!

Due to the protests online support for these bills has dwindled but, they still have the possibility of being passed. With the knowledge that congress appears to have of the internet, it is no wonder that this legislation like this even comes close to being passed.