Wikipedia "blacked out" the English version of its website for 24 hours last week in protest of the anti-piracy legislation under consideration in the US Congress. The enactment of this law would be extremely damaging to the internet as we know it as it will eliminate the right for free speech. Some sites thought to be affected include YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia along with hundreds more.
The legislation is designed to crack down pirated US products overseas so if passed it would allow people to launch legal action against websites that allow the unauthorised distribution of material. This means that if people post content online that may not necessarily belong to the them the website can be shut down.
Site founder Jimmy Wales tweeted saying "Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!"
While the main goal is to prevent popular trends involving piracy, critics say it could hurt the technology industry and infringes on free-speech rights. As a result of the protest and the support from many websites, the SOPA act has been stopped.
However, there is now ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) which is an agreement that aims to establish international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement. If this were to get passed it could be detrimental to the Internet and the way it is used today.
While the main goal is to prevent popular trends involving piracy, critics say it could hurt the technology industry and infringes on free-speech rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment