Join the Online SOPA Protest

On Wednesday, more than 7,000 websites are expected to voluntarily "go dark," by blocking access to their content to protest the bill, according to organizers of SOPAStrike.com. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring the measure to a vote next week. Some of the biggest names on the Internet plan to participate in the blackout, including Wikipedia, Mozilla, Reddit and WordPress. On Tuesday, Google stopped short of vowing to take down its popular search engine, but said it would change its home page to show solidarity with protesters.

While Hollywood movie studios and major record labels have lauded the bill as a robust effort to crack down on online copyright violations, Internet experts maintain that the tools proposed for the legislation would hamper efforts to improve online security and threaten the basic functioning of the Internet.

Tech companies have been raising objections to the bill since the Senate version, Protect IP, was introduced last spring. Free speech experts also argue that the measure's basic anti-piracy tool would risk seriously violating the First Amendment in allowing the government and private companies to shut down entire websites accused of piracy without a trial or even a traditional court hearing. (Source: HuffingtonPost)

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. - Google

Why am I against these bills?? I started blogging when I was a sophomore in high school. Back then it was kind of like a diary for me, going over my day, things that happened, how I was feeling. My friends and I all shared our thoughts together in one place, posting what we wanted. As I got older, I blogged less about my feelings and more about my interests, leading to blogging about my favorite books and reviewing them. I would hate to lose this freedom: to post what I want, how I feel, find new books, and share my thoughts on them among other avid readers and bloggers. If this bill is passed, we will no long have the freedom to post what we want. We will be censored. And even possibly shut down. This is wrong, and against what America stands for. If you want to keep your rights, and continue to freely express yourself on the internet, please sign the petition and tell Congress "NO" to censorship. You can also write to your representative and tell them how you feel about PIPA and SOPA. Ask them to please vote against them and protect our rights. Spread the word around other networking sites and tell people why this is so important. Ask them to sign the petition and write to their representatives as well. Together we have a voice, and we need to let it be heard!!