Students planning to use Wikipedia to “help” research a paper on Wednesday will need to find another online encyclopedia to browse. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales confirmed that the English version of the high traffic website plans to completely black out for 24 hours in protest of the controversial policies Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act.
This weekend, congressmen promised that SOPA would not be voted on until a consensus is reached in the House of Representatives. However, students should still speak out against the shelved bill and similar policies that hinder the essence of the online community, especially the alive-and-kicking PIPA – which is scheduled to go before the full senate on Jan. 24.
SOPA and PIPA were created to try to halt illegal downloading using the dual pistols of harsh law and undeveloped logic. The basics of SOPA provide for a website being completely blocked from average internet users due to a mere accusation of permitting or linking to piracy.
The bill also affects individuals. It could send any average Joe or Jane to jail for half a decade simply because they recorded themselves singing their favorite song and posted it to YouTube or Facebook for a laugh. I suppose YouTube will need to remove a certain video of involving the Spice Girls’ Wannabe that has been haunting me since middle school. Shucks.
In all seriousness, SOPA protestors see the bill as Congress raising a middle finger to the internet community and American culture. Upon the passing of SOPA or its sister-act PIPA, the Internet’s dynamic will completely change because popular websites such as YouTube and Facebook will become extremely challenging, if not impossible.
On the other hand, digital entertainment industries – such as music, movies and video gaming – claim to be suffering from the mass illegal downloading of their products. These industries and many members of Congress believe the passing of this bill will help the industry and America’s economy.
The basic idea of SOPA is justified. Pirating music and video is illegal. When you sort through the nitty gritty, downloading the free digital copy of a song is essentially stealing from the pocket of not only the artist, but also the workers employed by the industry. Yet, even though the media entertainment industry is affected by the piracy of copyrighted content, the effects of SOPA and PIPA would be more broad and detrimental for America as a whole.
SOPA would completely alter and limit the internet groundswell on which our society has become dependent. Contemporary culture revolves around the global online community, especially the sharing aspect of it. Most of our information nowadays stems from online articles or posts that have been linked on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Some Purdue professors have even gotten in the habit of showing YouTube videos with copyrighted content to demonstrate certain concepts in class.
Furthermore, internet sharing is the most effective and efficient way to “spread the word.” The industries complaining about losing money from illegal use of copyrighted content are simultaneously gaining unlimited free advertising from the same content being uploaded and shared. There is no better way to establish and grow a fan base than to set your material loose on the internet.
Finally, while the media entertainment industries employ many workers, SOPA and PIPA will not save our economy. Instead, passing these bills may do more to hurt American business, especially when innocent online companies are blocked from Google and PayPal for months and cannot conduct any business. It will be better for the economy if we do not cage the internet groundswell.
Students should act on Wikipedia’s call for support and speak out against laws that induce internet censorship. Upon the passing of SOPA, PIPA, or similar bills, we will not be able connect online in the way to which we’ve become accustomed. As avid web users, we should not stand for this.
Kinsey Streib is a junior in the College of Liberal Arts and can be reached at opinions@purdueexponent.org.
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