Imagine waking up tomorrow and starting your normal Internet routine.
Pull up Tumblr to check out your favorite cat pictures, load YouTube to watch a few funny videos before class and finally log in to Facebook to stalk that cute girl from class — only to realize all of your favorite sites aren’t there anymore.
Well, boys and girls, this imaginary vision may become a reality in our near future.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a bill currently up for debate in the House of Representatives. SOPA has come under mass scrutiny over the past couple months, and for good reason.
If passed, the bill would effectively give the government the right to censor, seize or shut down any website that hosts copyrighted material.
While online piracy is a huge issue, the bill claims it’s “combating the theft of U.S. property;” the wording of SOPA is so vague, it would give the government an extreme amount of power over something as creative and free as the Internet.
Members of the online community have been crying out in opposition of the bill, yet never found a way to have their voices heard.
Until now.
Many “mainstream” media outlets kept quiet about SOPA for the longest time — whether due to its parent company supporting the bill or out of sheer ignorance — so much of the general public remained unaware of the bill.
Wednesday, the Internet banded together on an all-out protest of SOPA.
Many sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and gaming blog Destructoid pulled their sites offline — or “blacked out” — to help raise awareness for the bill.
Other websites like Google, Wired and Craigslist didn’t go fully dark, but changed the appearance of their sites while providing links to petitions and contact information to state representatives and senators.
Nationwide trending topics on Twitter have included #StopSOPA and #thingsbetterthanSOPA.
The websites choosing to participate in Wednesday’s blackout took a huge risk making their pages unavailable for the day.
If SOPA were to pass, however, many of those sites would cease to exist, thanks to the poor wording of the bill.
The movement over the past week garnered so much steam that even the Obama administration spoke out against the bill.
“The voice of the Internet community has been heard. Much more education for members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and achieve broad appeal,” SOPA opponent Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said.
Congress doesn’t reconvene until Jan. 24, which is when the next SOPA hearing will take place — though the bill had been “shelved” and then readmitted for discussion during the past week.
Even if SOPA were to be knocked from the time I’m finished writing this to the time you read it, its lesser-known Senate counterpart PIPA (or the Protect Intellectual Property Act) is still around.
Students, faculty, users of the Internet: Now is the time to have your voice heard.
Many times the “common man” feels he or she doesn’t have a voice when it comes to politics and the passing of legislature, but Wednesday’s protest proves the complete opposite.
Call or e-mail your representatives and tell them to put an end to SOPA. Sign the online petition Google and many other websites have set up. Make your message clear.
Online piracy will continue to be a major issue that needs to be taken care of, but not at the expense of our freedoms.
Hopefully in the coming months, SOPA and PIPA will be nothing but material for future history tests. That won’t prevent Congress from writing other bills like it, however.
Don’t be complacent on certain lobbyists’ technological ignorance. Demand a free and open Internet.
Step up before the government has the ability to [CENSORED] and [CENSORED].
Adam Arinder is a 22-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
 
—-
Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected].