The Government Want to Control the Internet “Again”

The Government Wants to Control the Internet Again

There have been many issues that have raised the ire of activist, but few have compared to the Piracy Act in the House and the Senate Protect IP bill, which are now under consideration.  Both bills attempt to address the theft of intellectual property.

The Protect IP is presently scheduled to go to the floor for a vote on January 24^th but at least six conservative senators feel uneasy about the timeline.  As a result they have penned a letter to Senator Harry Reid expressing their concerns.  “We are all in agreement that the online sale of pirated and counterfeit goods imposes a huge cost on the American economy in terms of lost jobs, lost sales, lost innovation and lost income.”  In addition, they also wrote “We also believe however that we need to arrive at the right solution in the right way on this important topic.”

In addition to the above stated issues, the six conservative Senators expressed concern that, “Breeches in cyber-security damaging the integrity of the internet, costly and burdensome litigation and dilution of First Amendment rights,” might occur if the widely contested Protect IP were passed.  They requested that, “the bill be fully debated and amendments not limited,” when it does come to the floor on January 24^th.

There has also been tremendous concern over the substance and procedural context of this controversial legislation. Though intended to block piracy, this legislation, according to some opponents, has the potential for economic damage and restrictions on free speech.

This comment was posted by Fight for the Future:

“It’ll give the government new powers to block Americans’ access to websites that corporations don’t like. The bill would criminalize posting all sorts of standard web content — music playing in the background of videos, footage of people dancing, kids playing video games, and posting video of people playing cover songs. This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.”

What does this mean to you and me as internet users?  It means that the Justice Department

will be able to pursue litigation against any host whose content violates intellectual property laws.  This could lead to the blocking of all Americans from certain sites.  Do you remember what happened in Egypt during the uprising?  The government cut internet service in order to stop communication between protesters.  Could something like that happen here in America? I think we all know the answer to that.

Portions taken from:  fightforthefuture.org.