Government Information Censorship Bills?

On the 18^th of January, Wikipedia and hundreds of other internet sites shut down their services for 24 hours in protest of two bills named PIPA and SOPA, referred to as the Online Piracy Acts.  These bills were created in order to combat "intellectual property" theft which would mainly be directed at piracy sites such as the Pirate Bay.  Like the usual Washington legislation, the bills were of good intention, but the cause and effects of such a bill were totally ignored. The media frenzy and public outcry following the proposal of SOPA and PIPA sent politicians running like a bunch of elementary school kids after throwing a baseball through a neighbor's window.

In my eyes, there are two problems with this whole scenario.  The first one is the content of the bills.  They basically give the courts power to shut down any internet site they want with limited evidence of "intellectual property" theft.  This means that sites will be under constant threat of being shut down, which means less internet traffic to shut down sites and less revenue created, if they post any material that may be suspicious.  For many sites, this is very difficult because they allow people to post and share information freely and some of that information could be considered theft.  Under SOPA and PIPA, these sites could be shut down.  This puts hesitation and fear in the creators of these sites and stunts growth dramatically when they are accused of breaking laws.  Internet companies and services are the fastest-growing industries in the U.S., and these bills would only hurt that growth.  Why does Washington insist on regulating and taxing every industry until it becomes completely stagnant?  There is already a system in place for protecting intellectual property.  Although, these bills were mainly constructed to combat offshore sites from piracy, which the current system does not effectively combat.  There needs to be a better way to combat off-seas piracy, because these bills only hurt American people and American companies.  Actually, excuse me, these bills do protect a few American billionaires in the media business who would like to increase their profits through these bills.  However, all of this translates to less internet innovation and more government censorship.  Both of these are an assault to a free society. 

The second issue at hand is our dear politicians. They can be so convincing when they give their speeches about their values and their vast knowledge and wisdom and leadership.  However, when they are on the wrong side of a public opinion nightmare, they flop harder than a chubby kid off a diving board.  On January 18, one day before the media frenzy, there were 80 supporters and 31 opponents to the bills within the Congress.  The very next day, 15 of those 80 supporters not only withdrew their support but came out in opposition to the bill.  In addition, 55 previously undecided Congressmen and Congresswomen also joined the opposition, and more momentum is shifting in the direction of killing the bills. 

This whole saga is just another shining example of the failed politics in Washington.  Politicians continue to grow the size and power of the government with only the occasional speed bump, such as this one. These bills will be back soon under a new name and they will most likely be passed, taking the nation another step closer toward total media censorship. Many of our politicians fail to recognize the cause/effect of the legislation they enact, which only amplifies the hurting of the people in a time when the pain is already too great.  We want leaders, not panderers.