COMMENTARY | Even if you are not a computer savvy person, chances are if you’ve been online at all the last few days you have either run into pages that were blacked out for the day on Wednesday or heard mentioned in some way SOPA or PIPA.
Many sites from Wikipedia to Google participated in a form of online protest to the bills that were posed to create huge liabilities to such websites. Twitter and Facebook were full of tweets, status updates, and shared pictures from users expressing their frustrations at what they feel amounts to internet censorship.
It seems all of that venting has paid off, according to Digital Trends, votes on SOPA and PIPA have been delayed indefinitely. This has been viewed by many to be a major victory for the Internet community. It also shows Americans do have a voice when it comes to the government and its decisions. Prior to the protests, the bills were expected to pass unhindered because there was overwhelming support for them, as well as major lobbying on behalf of media moguls.
The fact many government officials did a complete turnaround of their stance suggests the American people’s voices were truly heard, and that they can really make a difference by speaking out. Hopefully, Americans will remember that the next time they feel outrage at a law the government is about to pass on their behalf. It is still our country after all.
CNN reports a new act has been proposed to try to limit copyright infringement and piracy without going after legitimate websites with a few bad apples publishing illegal content. This act is called OPEN and has been posted online for Americans to read and even comment on, if they so desire. Citizens can even make suggestions on how to improve the document and the authors will take those suggestions into consideration. This is a completely new approach to legislation and may be a signal of things to come. Perhaps in the future, citizens will no longer feel as though lawmakers are out of touch with what the average American wants and needs, because they will be a part of that decision making process .