Congress tries to control Internet

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:21:21 GMT

By Joseph Cardenas/Section Editor

photo with permission Don Wright Tribune Media Services MCT

Just a month ago, web surfers, Internet gurus and Facebook junkies took part in the war against the government for freedom of online expression as Congress underwent the process of either rejecting or accepting anti-online privacy laws Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Because of those who signed the petitions and supported the side of many websites who protested these laws, they were both turned down. But why was there even an uproar? Surely what comes with a law that hopes to stop online piracy and illegal downloading has nothing but good intentions. First and foremost, these laws were meant to stop the trafficking of illegally downloaded forms of copyrighted entertainment such as movies and music. But in reality, that is not the only thing they would do. "It’ll put restrictions in place and allow the government power to circumvent how the Internet works," said Orencio Cardenas, AVP and IT Manager at a local bank. "It will do so in a way that it will give the government a way to silence people all under the guise of ‘protection,’ ‘children,’ or ‘anti-pornography.’ Really these are arguments being used by the big media companies and corporations that have a lot of copyright laws, so they can make more money." It clearly states in Section 201 of SOPA that the law would punish any who publish and/or distribute the copyrighted material. But isn’t that what most people do when they make a YouTube video that happens to have the latest Lady Gaga song in the background? How about when someone posts an mp3 link for a Kanye West song on Facebook or Twitter? Or posts a scene of a movie everyone’s dying to watch on Tumblr? Wouldn’t all of this be considered infringement of copyrighted material in the first place? It is not just the sites that allow illegal downloading that are being affected. As shocking as this is, an even greater shock comes from the companies who supported the bills. The list goes from the CBS Corporation to Universal Music Group and Walt Disney Studios. "And they think by doing this, they’ll be able to stop online piracy," said Cardenas. A major consequence for such illegal activity is having one’s Internet pulled. More so, they would be blacklisted and no company would ever be allowed to give them Internet access again. The day the laws were being presented, scores of websites shared in the protests of their online users, such as Wikipedia having a selective blackout. It was not functioning and opened with one page that read: "Please call your Representative or Senator and urge them to vote against the SOPA and PIPA acts." Another major site that shared the support was Google, not only censoring its name that day but also making an online petition and urging its visitors to join the cause. Google stated that an estimated 4.5 million people signed the petition against SOPA and PIPA. After the battle with SOPA and PIPA was over, many countries’ Internet users now fear the rise of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), first surfacing in June 2008 in Europe. Eventually, it did come around to the United States and was passed in July of that same year. It was essentially meant to give a definition to counterfeit goods on the Internet and a basic outline of online piracy and copyright infringement. What most people don’t understand is that it is an international treaty rather than a law. "The ACTA treaty is not being voted on by the Senate or the House. It is being administrated through a treaty which circumvents the voting process of the people," said Cardenas. "So when you put these international copyright rights into a treaty and say that they’re enforceable without our representatives voting on it, that’s a problem. ACTA is a treaty that imposes copyright restrictions that aren’t laws in our land. They are taking the same language of practices that will fundamentally break the Internet and putting it into a treaty, hiding and secretly negotiating it." This by no means says that the war is over. It is far from over. No doubt the government is in the process of proposing a new SOPA and PIPA that will sound like practically the same thing.

The Viper Vibe

Congress tries to control Internet