I support the Internet blackout

I’m not going to pretend that going dark here at my little blog — which only recently started updating regularly again — is going to have much of an impact on the piracy/privacy protest going on across the Web today. But I’m also not going to pretend that sitting by silently, along with so many other people who either don’t know or don’t care about the issue, doesn’t give weight to what the United States government is trying to do our civil liberties.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which has been shelved but still lurks in the Congressional shadows, and the still-active Protect IP Act (PIPA) would deeply harm the Web by allowing wide-ranging censorship of content, and would be detrimental to business (on and offline) in spite of what proponents would have you believe. I strongly support creators’ rights and think everyone should have the ability to safeguard and profit from their work. These two bills, though, are not the right way to do it.

Here is some information on PIPA and SOPA, and what you can do to speak out:

sopablackout.org

Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

eff.org: Internet Censorship and Copyright Bill

eff.org: How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech

Huffington Post: SOPA Blackout Aims to Block Internet Censorship Bill