Fun Internet Censorship!

I considered blacking out my blog, but I got home at four so I thought the statement might be a little lost, as the day is almost over. I'm totally with them all in spirit, though. It is fascinating to see the Internet all banding together over this. The solidarity is inspiring.

Wikipedia has a snazzy screen.
I have to admit, they scared me a little. I can barely imagine how I would function without Wikipedia. It is possibly the most helpful tool ever invented. All the relevant knowledge of a subject you could need. No need to go trawling through years of newspaper posts or sketchy blogs. It's right there. Being helpful. Like a ridiculously intelligent friend, who always pops up first when you search for anything. It's great. A world without Wikipedia... *shudder*  It's terrifying. I would be so lost.


I've been doing some reading up on SOPA and PIPA. They both look rather suspect to me. Granted, I suppose my sources are slightly biased, but they are factual enough. Basically, what I got out of my reading is that SOPA and PIPA are dangerous due to their scale. Instead of simply removing the offending content, they would give the government or corporations (I worry about the latter more) the ability to block entire host websites. Instead of merely removing an infringing video from YouTube, they could remove YouTube. While I agree that intellectual property should be protected, I can only support it to a degree. The price of degrading the Internet and putting a powerful weapon for censorship into the hands of the political-industrial complex seems a bit high.
The Internet, if I may speak from a combination of observation and research, is a massive tool for social change, entrepreneurship, free speech, and open discourse of ideas. It's a feeding ground for creativity, in short. (Creativity in the sense of creating things - anything, not merely art.) These bills would place a lot of power in hands I'm not sure that I trust. Maybe Orwell got to me, but I don't take freedoms for granted. At least, not too many of them.


Here's a few more pieces on it:

Could Facebook Shut Down?
CNN does an article on the phenomenon.


I'm considering writing a letter to a congress person. What should it say?