We’re doing our part to protest American censorship of the internet. Consider this a metaphorical blackout.
This is to protest “the Senate version of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In the Senate the bill is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA has gotten more attention than PIPA because it was moving faster in the legislative process. But PIPA is just as dangerous, and now it is moving faster.”
This especially messes with artists (filmmakers!).
As Fight For the Future writes: “Copyright law exists to promote the arts, but the new penalties in PIPA could be used against the new social media channels we depend on to make a living, and endanger freedom of expression. [It can] be abused to attack legitimate sites we rely on. Many trailblazing social media websites could look like piracy havens to judges unfamiliar with the Internet. In the past, music and film companies have attacked many new technologies – like the VCR and MP3 player – claiming that they were tools for piracy. Recently, these same companies have sued video hosting platforms like Veoh and YouTube. We use online video sites, file hosts like Dropbox and Mediafire, and online music communities like Soundcloud to host our work, collaborate with others, and build a community. We fund our work with services like Kickstarter and Flattr. We publish our work on sites like Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger. Any one of these services could be sued under PIPA.”
Find out more here: http://www.fightforthefuture.org/pipa
Filed under: Do It
