Clandestine bills that destroy our freedoms

No

             Now they shelved the SOPA and PIPA acts we can put down our pitchforks and our torches and return to our thatched-roof peasant lives and pay no attention to our representatives high up in the castle. The truth is there is no better time than now to keep the pressure on the House and the Senate to make sure our privacy is maintained.

       These times will be seen as the halcyon days of the Internet. The Internet is still an infant, and those of our generation who have grown up knowing it must protect it from being destroyed by the skeletons in congress. It's common practice for seat holding crypt keepers to assign misleading names to bills to get them passed with little resistance.

       Often these bills are named to give the impression that they protect our freedoms, while usually the opposite is true. Consider the Patriot act; we know now that the act is unconstitutional, but it continues to be signed into law since everyone is convinced that America will instantly fall to the terrorists without it. Very effective considering the Patriot act is so absolutely unconstitutional that the Supreme Court would be required by oath to strike it down, should they ever choose to take a case on it. Last year the "Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers act of 2011" came before the house.

       It sounds like a no-brainer; do we want to support a bill that protects children from online predators? Yes. Now what if that same bill also required Internet Service Providers to store the names, browsing histories, phone numbers, credit card numbers, temporary IP addresses and bank account numbers of all of their customers, and required them to provide that personal information to law enforcement for any investigation if requested? I spit in your face, you emaciated vampires; don't use children to play on my emotions so you can trick me into signing my rights away.

       The same tactic was attempted with SOPA, but it backfired. The idea was that so much was being stolen via online piracy, that something needed to be done. Luckily there are enough people outside of congress that actually understand how the Internet works that the bill was able to get shelved in time. But now is not the time to sit down about this, congress has tried to use bills with confusing and misleading wording in order to get what they want previously, and they will do it again.

       SOPA and PIPA are by far not the last bills that we will see of their kind. Even now, in the aftermath of the public outcry, there are more bills in the works. Now there is the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade act (OPEN) here in the United States, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that is going before the European Union Council. I'm not entirely sure how to view this display of tenacity.

      Are these world leaders personally losing millions to Internet piracy? Are they honestly that concerned about the money being lost by music artists and movie-makers to try and pass these bills so incessantly? Or is this actually some sort of devious plot for control of the flow of information on the Internet? Leaders worldwide are grasping at the stings of the Internet and trying to bend it to their will, but time and time again those who work to keep those stings untangled are tugging back.

       Popular websites such as craigslist.com, Google.com Wikipedia.org and reddit.com blacked out or displayed messages on their front pages on the 18th to protest SOPA and PIPA. Similar online protests are in the works for new pending legislation. It's important for citizens to take part in protesting these bills. Read about how they can affect you in your daily life, sign petitions and write or call your congressman and talk to them about this legislation.

         The government fears the Internet, after seeing first hand what it is capable of with the Arab Spring and the Occupy movements. It seeks a power held by dictatorships and communist countries world wide, it seeks to hold the leash and tighten the collar on the people by regulating their access to information. In the 21st century your access to the Internet is your way to information, the platform for sedition, the gateway to government and your freedom of speech. Don't let them compromise the 1st amendment any more.