This site could disappear forever

WTF is going on?

PaperDemon has gone dark for 24 hours to protest SOPA and PIPA, two US Bills racing through Congress that threaten freedom of expression. Many other websites including Wikipedia, Reddit, Imgur, and Mozilla are participating in this blackout to help raise awareness of the devistating effect these bills will have on the free and open internet.

In a nutshell, what are SOPA and PIPA?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a bill in the US House of Representatives, and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) is a bill in the US Senate. Both of these bills are proposed as new laws to prevent piracy of music and film, but in actuality would cause censorship of dramatic proportions.

This animated gif from The Oatmeal does a good job of explaining it...

And so does this video...

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Why does PaperDemon care about SOPA and PIPA?

If SOPA and PIPA pass, the burden of liability for piracy and copyright infringement falls to the site owner. On all user-generated sites, there are thousands of people posting links, images, photos, videos, etc., and it’s impossible for a site owner to filter that content for copyright infringement and piracy. With liability falling on the shoulders of the site owner, this is especially devastating to small sites like PaperDemon, SheezyArt, and yGallery who can’t afford lawyers to defend their sites. These sites would not be able to exist because we would not be able to afford expensive lawyers and filtering mechanisms to prevent copyright infringement. As many of you know, we barely make enough in ads and donations to even run the site.

Why should you care about SOPA and PIPA?

Not only is this a threat to small sites, it’s a threat to all user generated content websites. If this legislation passes, larger sites such as DeviantArt, Facebook, and Google will also be targeted. With more websites shutting down, you will have fewer outlets to express yourself, share your art, share your writing, and exercise your freedom of speech.

In effect, SOPA and PIPA are forms of Internet censorship. It will be harder for young artists, musicians, authors, and film makers to get their work out there. In the current age of the Internet, even a 16 year old teenage boy making his own music and posting on YouTube can become recognized, become a huge star, and have a career in music. But whether you like Justin Beiber or not, it’s important that we all have equal access to the Internet.

In this quote from Gary Shapiro, CEO of Consumer Electronics Association, Gary speaks out against SOPA by stating:

"The bill attempts a radical restructuring of the laws governing the Internet," and that "It would undo the legal safe harbors that have allowed a world-leading Internet industry to flourish over the last decade. It would expose legitimate American businesses and innovators to broad and open-ended liability. The result will be more lawsuits, decreased venture capital investment, and fewer new jobs."

See what more experts have to say about SOPA and PIPA

Take action!

Sign the Petition
(via Google) Contact your Congressperson

Learn more about PIPA and SOPA

• [video] WTF is SOPA? aka The American Government trying to ruin the Internet

• [video] Protect IP Act breaks the Internet

• [video] Hitler reacts to SOPA

• Tumblr's Protect the Net page

• AmericanCensorship.org

• Don't Break the Internet, Stanford Law Review

• 3 More Reasons SOPA Ought to Scare You

• SOPA critics decry internet 'censorship' tactics

• Co-sponsors of SOPA

• Co-sponsors of PIPA

• Issa: 'SOPA? Throw it away'

• Hollywood's Last Stand: The Desperate Plot Behind The SOPA Opera

• [video] The Day the LOLcats Died

 

Should you need to contact PaperDemon, please contact me, BogusRed, at [email protected].