By Pat Howard

The following opinions are my own and don’t necessarily reflect the views of The WM Freelance Writers Connection.

What Is The SOPA Blackout?

If you’re firing up the computer today and finding that some of your favorite website have gone dark, you might be wondering what happened.

Yesterday, Angela Atkinson explained that today’s blackouts are a protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a bill that is currently going through the motions in the US House of Representatives. As its name suggests, the goal is to combat the illegal file sharing and other cyber crimes by seizing and shutting down websites that are suspected of facilitating these crimes.

Who’s Behind SOPA?

The Hollywood community (and its lobbyists) firmly supports SOPA, because it gives them the kind of leverage the music industry did not have when file sharing first took a bite out of CD sales over a decade ago. As a content creator and aspiring television writer, I can’t dispute that measures should be taken to protect copyrights and intellectual property.

I also agree with the idea that our legal system has not kept pace with the substantial evolution in commerce and technology that have taken place in the last 15 years. Legislators should pursue laws and remedies that are relevant to today’s business and creative communities, and their reliance on the Internet to do business.

What’s Wrong With SOPA?

What troubles me about SOPA is that the language is extremely broad, the free speech effects are chilling, and the precedent is dangerous. Sites like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and many others could be forced to monitor and censor users or be shut down.

We as a society can come with better defined policies that more specifically target the copyright infringement and intellectual property issues we face as writers and creators, both online and offline, in the 21st century.

Why Does SOPA Matter To Freelance Writers?

The Internet created amazing opportunities for writers, truly democratizing the exchange of information and giving a plethora of voices the chance to share their messages. It helps many freelance writers do their jobs each day, and any threat to that deserves to be taken seriously.

I’m not advocating piracy or other illegal activities. And I understand that the government is starting out behind the curve when it comes to policing the Internet. But that’s no excuse to create a bad example for the rest of the world, who could take our precedent as an excuse to enforce their own arbitrary sociopolitical views on the Internet users of their countries, where free speech already faces grave threats.

SOPA Is Anti-American

This is America, and the right to free speech is a founding principle, our First Amendment to the Constitution.  Due process is guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment. There’s no asterisk, footnote, or fine print that says, “except on the Internet, or in other arenas hereafter devised.”

The Founding Fathers would probably be stupefied by the Internet, and they surely never could have conceived of it. But they would be galled and offended by SOPA, and in my opinion, you should be too.

To borrow from the famous words of Patrick Henry, “Give me the Internet, or give me death!”

Learn More About SOPA Or Speak Out

Maybe you can use the time you’d normally spend on Wikipedia or Reddit to contact your senator and tell him or her what you think about SOPA?

• Voice your concerns about SOPA to your representatives
• Watch a video on how SOPA and its Senate twin PIPA will work
• Read an infographic about SOPA and its implications
• Browse a dynamic gallery of people who work with the Internet, and add yourself

What do you think of SOPA? How has today’s blackout affected your freelance work or daily routine? Share your thoughts in the comments.