The protest is planned for 24 hours, starting on 18 January 2012, and is being embraced by a number of websites, including Reddit, Boing Boing and one of my personal favs, Good.is. Other companies objecting to the bill include Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter, eBay, Rumblr, Etsy, Zynga, the EFF, ACLU, HRW, and craigslist, which now has a corner of its website devoted to the bill.
What is it? In a nutshell, it will allow those who believe content is violating copyright laws/intellectual property laws to shut down the entirety of a website facilitating the violation. Companies could also have their funds cut off:
If you ran a Web site that used PayPal or accepted payment via MasterCard, for example, and someone thought your site contained pirated content, they could contact PayPal or MasterCard and have those companies cut off access to your site, effectively shutting down your business.Major supporters include the RIAA, MPAA, other major news and music companies, Chemical companies including Dow, and PhRMA, the national pharmaceutical lobbying company. Very confusing supporters include Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, and a *large* number of labor organizations.
Why are there protests against the bill? Concerns range from the impact that the bill will have on internet companies to the threats it would have on whistle-blowing activities and human rights, and allowing companies and individuals to inhibit free speech activities.
Demonstrating that he's never seen Human Target season 1 episode 2, Michigan congressman John Conyers postulated that it's unlikely that the bill (or anything) could "break the internet." For one day, at least, the proposed bill will be breaking my heart.
For those of you in the US, write or call your Representatives to protest. For those outside the US, sign the EFF's petition.
Don't forget Kalamazoo's very own Pfizer. Why they need to be involved nobody knows.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Pfizer is very involved in PhRMA (the former CEO, Jeff Kindler, was the former head of PhRMA). I'd imagine the reason that Dow and the pharmaceuticals are involved has to deal with intellectual property and counterfeit drugs.
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