SOPA Rant

I'm not sure why the government is trying to break the internet so much, but I find it terrifying.  I feel like it's a short step from the Stop Online Piracy Act to full-blown censorship (not that SOPA isn't exactly that, but I'm sure they'll have something else to censor.)  I keep hoping SOPA will be shot down and never pass, but it seems to have some amazing regenerative resurrection abilities.  Supposedly SOPA will protect copyright holders from foreigners infringing on their copyrighted material and support and expand American creativity and protect the people from dangerous pirated websites yadayadayada (if you want the whole story do the research instead of letting me tell you about it.)  However, it will make companies responsible for their user-generated material that may reference, link to, or involve copyrighted material.  Said companies will be responsible for pulling that post/comment/video (as they already do once they're notified by a copyright holder that infringement is present) or all their ad revenue will be pulled and their domain blocked from access by the average user.  (Of course, Firefox has a few addons already that are intended to circumvent SOPA should it come to pass.)

What does that mean?  Well, some companies (Google, YouTube, Reddit) have already said that maintaining that kind of stringent supervision with their websites would be financially unreasonable and they may have to shut down.
No more free Internet, in both definitions of free!
Either sites with user-generated content (Facebook, Wordpress, Blogger, Twitter, eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Netflix, Mozilla, Tumblr, DeviantArt) would have a subscription fee to help cover the costs, or shut down, or be forced to change the way they're run, including removing comments sections and forums.

Even IF, (and this is a BIG IF,)  SOPA does exactly what it's supposed to do and stops US citizens from accessing pirate websites, it will be a huge financial drain on everyone involved.  IF SOPA is only used properly, for it's original intended purpose (that is ill-defined in the actual bill,)...
How long will it be until someone gets the bright idea that SOPA could be bigger and better and stop all piracy on the internet, whether foreign or domestic?  Someone like...someone like the RIAA, who already has too much lobbying power and proven itself to be a heavy-handed executioner of those who "pirate" music?  Or the MPAA who does the same?  Or any of the thousands of lobbyists who could benefit by this act while the people are censored and sites are blacklisted?

I see SOPA, and I see the death of the internet as we know it.  I see 1984 coming true, or Brave New World, or V for Vendetta, or your choice of bleak futures.

Corporotopia by Alexiuss

(P.S.  This blog would not be possible under SOPA)