SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) , have been put away in congress..maybe forever in it’s current form. Why? On Wednesday, the web protested, from Wikipedia to Google and the average everyday web-user protected a bill in government. The Movie industry , Music Industry, and TV industry all being proponents of the bill. The “Old Media” , mad about piracy (which is problem) has also not really done well with the internet world. The tech industry feeling threatened by the bills feeling that the acts go to far in making it where the government could shutdown sites. The idea of government shutting down free-speech is always a fear in many nations , and in the United States, where freedom of speech reigns.
The web is sometimes called the “wild, wild west” because it’s open. the music industry has been fighting with the web for a while now , they didn’t like that music was sold cheaper online and some sites did it free in the late 90′s. Apple’s I-tunes did make the music industry cringe in the beginning ,but they have been working with them now . Is it that the media industry is slow to adapt and also wants it cost more to the user . that has caused piracy to go rampant? To a point going the movies cost more and more now , making the time waiting to buy it or rent it worth the time or even some getting it free online when the movie is in theaters. Also the Music industry in hard copy form has suffered because people now want more music and they want to either have it downloaded or streamed. An industry afraid to change and understand that consumers don’t want high prices has been in part responsible for it’s own piracy? Or is it people just knowing that getting it for free is always the best and they don’t see a cost to it? Those two questions is what makes understanding the problem harder and seeing the web has changed. what people do.
Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist , and others, shutdown their sites for a day to protest what they saw wrong in the government. Google ,and others blacked out parts. Wednesday was the day for the web and web users to protest a law they sought unfit. The Protesting government has been big for the past year and it’s a different tide. People don’t think the web should be changed where speech is edited because laws are badly written. The government does have anti-piracy laws already to use. Congress people , the ones for SOPA and PIPA, changed their minds. The big thing is really who had the best message? The Supporters of the bills who said that it would cost American Jobs, even Nike said that , oddly because they mostly have their shoes and products made in other countries.? Or the web industry who says the web will be forever changed and freedom of speech will die? It’s seems the tech won because their message was more threatening to away of life.
So for now round one is done.
Stacy S. Jensen (@StacySJensen)
January 21, 2012
I’m glad congressional leaders finally got the message.