HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and its Senate counterpart, Protect IP Act, represent the biggest threat to free speech in America since the Patriot Act. This blacklist legislation has been created with the help of corporate media giants and gives the government and private interests unprecedented control over the internet. This would apply not only to content originating in the US, but extend the US government's censorship powers worldwide. It would force service providers to act as "thought police" responsible for monitoring and removing content under a broad and confusing definition of copyright infringement that includes many forms of expression currently considered fair use, including the dissemination of information from news sources. The deliberate lack of clarity in its wording, and the broad scope of this legislation, opens the door to its employment as a means of censoring unpopular opinions, creative expression, and the free exchange of ideas. Contact your representative today and let them know that you oppose this further deterioration of our constitutional rights.
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