The recent controversy surrounding the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was the primary topic of interest on the Internet with Wikipedia even blacking itself out in protest. However, was this response a reasonable response to the bill and what is SOPA actually like? Herein, these questions will be explored and discussed.
The General Response
The general response to SOPA was quite simply ridiculous. The main issue is that whenever these types of issues arise the general lack of understanding of how the United States government and legal system works arises. The general complaint against SOPA was that it would allow the government to potentially censor sites by taking them down for copyright infringement. However, the United States as a separation of powers that means that only the legal system can do it. The government can create laws, but the legal system decides if they are valid and then enforces them. This is a fundamental aspect of the United States political system that has been overlooked by the anti-sopa side. Depressing really, given that separation of government and legal system is one of the fundamental principles the United States was founded on.
The other argument run against SOPA is that the pro-SOPA people are being manipulated by large corporations. The problem with this response is that the anti-SOPA people are also being manipulated by large organizations, such as Google. As such, this response is also unreasonable.
Wikipedia’s Response
While it is fine to protest, a website that claims to be an online encyclopedia should not be blacking out completely against a concept AND claiming neutrality. Neutrality means that you do not get involved at all, and while it is probably an impossible concept to fully realize blacking out Wikipedia was an example of a clear failure to strive towards neutrality.
Conclusion
The response to SOPA was simply ridiculous. Whether you support or oppose it, the bill is nowhere near as harsh as it was made out to be.
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