Two new laws are being considered by Congress. These laws could radically affect what we can access on the internet.
These laws are the Stop Online Piracy Act, and the Protect IP 
[intellectual property] Act. It is the effort put forth by the American government to protect the rights of copyright holders.
The purpose of these laws is to curb online piracy, but at what cost? The Protect IP Act is a statute that uses vaguely phrased standards, to determine identity of websites that infringe copyright. It could make illegal for these sites to be listed by a search engine such as Google.
The Stop Online Piracy Act, expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. As originally proposed this bill would bar online advertisers, and online payment companies from doing business with the companies it suspects of copyright infringement.
Is it right for the U.S. government to try and censor the internet, in an effort to thwart piracy?
No, censorship of any website by government is not right. If there is a problem with copyright infringement, the website owner should be ordered to shut down their site. No government should have the right to censor sites it deems to infringe copyright law.
China is already doing this. The Chinese government blogs websites that discuss the Dalai Lama, the 1989 crackdown on Tienanmen Square protesters, Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement, and other internet sites.
The internet was originally created to give the United States a technological edge of other countries. In 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). It was one of the most advanced projects of its time.
During the 1950's computers were collections of devices that filled entire rooms. They had a fraction of the power of today's machine's, and used punch cards, and there was no way to link them together. ARPA hoped to change that. It enlisted the help of the company Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) to create a computer network. It used four computers on different operating systems.
Since that time, with the advance of technology, the internet has become increasingly popular. Its used by both business, and individuals.
To survive in the world today, you must know how to use a computer, and the internet, and how to be creative. The information being collected and processed is invaluable. Answers can be found in seconds, not hours, weeks or days. Anything that you need to know is at your fingertips.
If these laws come into effect, whats to prevent the American government from taking over, and limiting every aspect of what we can do to make our lives better, and the people in the global community.
One thing always leads to another. Before long its like were living in a communist country, without even being part of one. The U.S. government is going to far.
