Essay 2

update: I am not sure what wrong with the text

Internet freedom

            The issue I would like to talk about is the restriction of internet freedom of how it can and will affect every last one of us. The issue is there are many bills waiting to restrict our freedom in the internet such as PIPA, SOPA and a new one starting to emerge CISPA. I chose this issue because for several years internet was free from taxes, restrictions and even help produced many jobs thanks to the way the internet connect us all together. But now the government is trying to place themselves to be part of the internet process, all of this freedom may come to an end. States are already trying to impose taxes on digital goods and bills are coming in quickly for a chance to restrict and control the internet. Even though the goals of the bills is to protect copyrighted material it has the power to bring down any websites infringing on their material. Even though these bills are meant to protect people digital property it does more harm than good.

            Even though bills like PIPA(The protect IP act ) and SOPA(The Stop Online Piracy Act) failed to pass through, it can come back in other different forms. These bills gained strong momentum and were almost passed, but thanks to strong lobbying and internet blackouts the supporters of the bills backed out and it can be said that the freedom of the internet has won for a short time. But what these bills were to protect copyrighted material so why are these so bad? PIPA the protect IP act allows companies to force internet providers to block access to websites that infringes on copyrighted material and let companies the ability to take legal actions against any websites that have copyrighted materials on it even a simple comment post. Next on the list is SOPA or stop online piracy act that will force search engines and advertisers to block contact with any websites that is deemed infringing on copyrighted materials. Even though these bills is shelved there are even more bills hanging around such as CISPA(Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) which would "allow companies to pass around personal information about Internet users" which is even more invasive of our freedoms.

            Now that we got what these bills do the question is how do they restrict us exactly. These bills  have many issues such as that all of them can be abused for the company own gain and not what it is intended for. Overall this quote explains the issue" The gist of the bill is that it gives content creators the power to force ISPs, search engines or payment services to shut down access to a Web site that the owner believes violated its copyright. On its face, the bill is designed to stop access to foreign Web sites that are profiting off of stolen content. (U.S.-based business can simply be dragged into court.) In reality, it's much more insidious than that." Both PIPA and SOPA have the power to bring down websites and may do so at their own interest such as a picture of their logo on a blog can have the entire website taken down or blocked and even sued. But beyond interest and even freedom blocking off websites may not even be possible due to the huge technical issues involve with blacklisting and blocking websites off. Overall due to the restrictions the power for abuse is much more alarming then protection digital property can even cause massive errors on the system of the internet.

            The last issue for internet restrictions is who actually wants them? From a newspaper article by Beaver County Times only those major company with creating or distributing content would want such things mostly the entertainment industry and pharmaceutical companies would want them so their sales would improve . But who are the opponents to this? Mostly everyone else and websites such as Wikipedia, facebook, Reddit, Google and potentially thousands more. Due to a internet blackout, by many of these companies it forced the bills to be shelved and the majority won.

            In conclusion internet restriction by SOPA and PIPA was a issue and still is if we are not prepared for it. Even though these bills were meant to help people the potential of abuse can be far greater and much more consequential for the freedom of the internet. When only a few gain and the majority disapprove it should not be happening. With many laws coming to place to restrict the internet we must be ready to make sure we have the awareness to stop it.

           

           

Work Cited

Joshua, Topolsky. 0001. "SOPA and PIPA: The wrong tools to combat online piracy." Washington Post, The, 1. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2012).

McClatchy-Tribune news, service. n.d. "INTERNET BLACKOUT HAS BILL SUPPORTERS BACKING OUT."

Hamilton Spectator, The (ON), n.d. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2012).

2012. "Activists fight U.S. cybersecurity bill." UPI Top NewsNewspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2012).

By David Bell, Wired /. 2012. "The Internet Soap Opera: SOPA." Winnipeg Free Press (MB), January 22. 0. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012).

Jamal. "What is PIPA and SOPA." 1st web designer. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/how-sopa-pipa-can-affect-you/>.

Pound, Michael. 2012. "The SOPA/PIPA effect: Internet goes silent." Beaver County Times, The (PA), January 22. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012).