Please Be Careful
On January 18th, 2011, only short time ago, a massive internet protest ensued. Some of the largest and most used internet sites went dark for 24 hours, including Wikipedia and Reddit, to bring attention to the movement against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), two acts designed to protect owners of copyrights from the possibility of intellectual robbery. Wikipedia, Google, and many others feel that while they understand the need to stop piracy of intellectual property, these bills go too far and begin to censor ideas and knowledge. I stand with these groups that oppose these controversial laws because I fear that while these laws are designed to protect creativity and expression from so-called “pirates”, the laws themselves give the government powers that could be used to restrict our freedom of speech. As a citizen of the United States, freedom of speech should ...