If ________ SOPA passes, your internet ____ will look a lot like ______ this.

 If ████ ██████ SOPA ██████ ██████ passes ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ████ the Internet ██ ████ ██████ ██ will look a lot like this.

1. SOPA and PIPA would censor the Web

The U.S. government could order the blocking of sites using methods similar to those employed by China. Among other things, search engines could be forced to delete entire websites from their search results. That’s why 41 human rights organizations and 110 prominent law professors have expressed grave concerns about the bills.

2. SOPA and PIPA would be job-killers because they would create a new era of uncertainty for American business

Law-abiding U.S. internet companies would have to monitor everything users link to or upload or face the risk of time-consuming litigation. That’s why AOL, EBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga wrote a letter to Congress saying these bills “pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation." It’s also why 55 of America’s most successful venture capitalists expressed concern that PIPA “would stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness". More than 204 entrepreneurs told Congress that PIPA and SOPA would “hurt economic growth and chill innovation".

3. SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy

To make matters worse, SOPA and PIPA won’t even work. The censorship regulations written into these bills won’t shut down pirate sites. These sites will just change their addresses and continue their criminal activities, while law-abiding companies will suffer high penalties for breaches they can’t possibly control.

There are effective ways to combat foreign “rogue" websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that have made the Internet such an important driver of American economic growth and job creation. Congress should consider alternatives like the OPEN Act, which takes targeted and focused steps to cut off the money supply from foreign pirate sites without making US companies censor the Web.

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SOPA can be stopped and we'll celebrate it with a special “We Stopped SOPA" badge for the #BlackoutSOPA movement. Help unlock this badge & make it happen:

1. Sign Google’s petition to tell Congress you oppose SOPA/PIPA:  new!www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

2. Tweet @senatorreid @chuckschumer @mcconnellpress @senatorreid @chuckschumer @mcconnellpress Stand up for the Internet, our future & #BlackoutSOPA 3. Call your Senator with 1 click: new!www.stopthewall.us will connect you directly – just enter your phone number Recruit your friends to #BlackoutSOPA Tweet this link to join the challenge: http://www.BlackoutSOPA.org/meltingmama    

*Cheers*

I have been reading about this all morning and still don't get what their intention is with these bills.  I guess I have to go look at a real news source and read the bills.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.^[2] Presented to the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.^[3]

The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streamingof copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.^[4]

Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws, especially against foreign websites.^[5] They cite examples such as Google's $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice for its role in a scheme to target U.S. consumers with ads to illegally import prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies.^[6]

Opponents say that it violates the First Amendment,^[7] is Internet censorship,^[8] will cripple the Internet,^[9] and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech actions.^[7][10]Opponents have initiated a number of protest actions, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and planned service blackouts by English Wikipediaand major Internet companies scheduled to coincide with the next Congressional hearing on the matter.

The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011. The Committee was scheduled to continue debate in January 2012,^[11] but on January 17 Chairman Smith said that "[d]ue to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February."<sup>[12]

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https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c1#/video/tech/2012/01/18/eitm-sopa-stop-online-piracy-act.cnn

http://lifehacker.com/5860205/all-about-sopa-the-bill-thats-going-to-cripple-your-internet

It doesn't sound like a bad idea to block piracy, not sure why it would be such a problem for all the big internet companies.  I think its worse when you go to a site and buy something you think is legit and it turns out to be a fraudelent site, I refuse to buy online for the most part for this very reason.  I think they need to do something to make it right, maybe not these bills but something.

This site and most forums would fail.

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook would fail.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/dec/23/sopa-stop-online-piracy-act

Mashable -  http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/sopa-dangerous-opinion/
 

• Gives the government the right to unilaterally censor foreign websites.
• Gives copyright holders the right to issue economic takedowns and bring lawsuits against website owners and operators, if those websites have features that make it possible to post infringing content.
• Makes it a felony offense to post a copyrighted song or video.

This bill turns us all into criminals.

If it passes, then you either stop using the Internet, or you simply hope that you never end up in the crosshairs, because if you’re targeted, you will be destroyed by this bill. You don’t have to be a big, mean, nasty criminal — common Internet usage is effectively criminalized under this law. This bill will kill American innovation and development of the Internet, as it will become too risky to do anything of value. It is toxic and dangerous, and should not, under any cir****tances, be supported.

I agree that this bill is wrong. I have the link on my FB page.
The goverment is always trying to control the bad people by confining the good people.

Too much goverment.

There is always going to be those that do not respect what belongs to others i.e. copyrights etc. But having the goverment, any goverment come into your life and sensor you because of it, is not a good choice for Freedom. It is baby steps that lead to complete sensorship not giant steps.

I do not need the goverment in my life to tell be how to do the right thing, I need the goverment to pass laws that allow me to choose how I pursue life, liberty and happiness.

IMHO
donna

Well, big government has done such a WONDERFUL job of "creating jobs" and "stopping obesity" and "balancing the budget"..................why not let them totally "f" up the internet too???!!!!

UUGGGHHH

I'm so over "Big Brother".

I signed the petition on Google and posted it on Facebook. Stupid Congress just messes everything up. Why don't they just stay out of the private sector and the internet? Idiots.