‘SOPA’ Stopped Dead In Its Tracks By Obama

SOPA, the “stop online piracy act”, has been shelved for now. It created an uproar, stirring controversy and threatened the likes of Facebook, Google, Reddit.com, Wikipedia.org and a host of other online domains. Although it has an admirable objective—stopping online piracy—its method was seen as draconian. It divided the Hollywood and media moguls from the internet giants. Hollywood feels threatened by major piracy which predominantly originates from overseas. However, SOPA does not even make any concerted measure to stop the root of online piracy; one of the reasons Obama says he will not support the bill.

Tomorrow Wikipedia.org will blackout its website in an attempt to raise awareness and garner support to oppose the bill by their 25 million page viewers. They feel strongly about resisting this legislation. Because the definitions and terms are so broad, SOPA has the potential to destroy jobs and creative expansion by over censorship. The bill will be shelved for now but it will not go away, the need to stop online piracy is strong and the people willing to back this legislation are powerful.