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| Wikipedia Mainpage - January 18, 2012 |
Upon visiting Wikipedia earlier today, I was greeted with this message and admittedly was ignorant on both the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Acts. Although these are Bills which potentially could turn into Laws directly impacting our Friends south of the Border, on a global scale, this impacts Canadian Bloggers like myself right down to the content I can link to, what videos I can embed, what I can Tweet and the content I myself can post.
One of my favourite websites and resources Wikipedia, boldly blacked-out their content for 24 hours to raise awareness about the Matter. And successful they were with the Blackout becoming a global Trending Topic on Twitter almost immediately. "Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet", Visitors were told.
I too extend the invite to you to educate yourselves on this matter if you haven't already as inevitably it could impact you as a Reader and Citizen of the Internet. Click here for a clear explanation in everyday English of what's going down. I am not for Piracy and Counterfeiting in any way, but at the same time I am even more against infringing upon the fundamental right of Free Speech without fear of Censorship or Punishment.
As Canadians we too can voice our opinions to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada via E-mail, Telephone or in Writing. Click here for details on how to contact them.
UPDATE: A Vote originally scheduled for 1/24/12 has been postponed indefinitely on whether or not to move the legislation to Senate with SOPA and PIPA according to Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
