“Imagine a world without free knowledge.” That was the quote on Wikipedia’s front page on Wednesday, January 18th. . The information-hosting online encyclopedia shut down all of the articles and information on the website, presenting only a black screen and a stark situation to the world for a full twenty-four hours. Why would Wikipedia, an online giant, shut down their website? The consequences are huge, a loss of much-solicited donations to the company and advertising money. The answer is simple. What Wikipedia is trying to do is raise awareness about two bills: the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, or SOPA and PIPA (Wikipedia, “Stop Online Piracy Act, Protect IP Act”). Soon after Wikipedia, other websites joined in the protest, with Internet search engine giant Google blacking out it’s colorful logo and smaller sites like Reddit and BoingBoing joining Wikipedia and shutting down for a day. Why are these bills so bad? Are they really threatening enough to Wikipedia that it would take down the English speaking version of the website for an entire day? (ABC News, SOPA Blackout: Wikipedia, Google, Wired Protest ‘Internet Censorship’
) Wikipedia certainly thinks so, and what they are trying to say, is that SOPA and PIPA are dangerous laws that must be rejected.
Now, what are SOPA and PIPA? SOPA is an acronym for the “Stop Online Piracy Act”, and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act”. (Wikipedia, “Stop Online Piracy Act”, “Protect IP Act”) They are both acts designed to stop online piracy of media, bootleg products and medications, and IP (Intellectual Property). (Wikipedia, “IP (Intellectual Property)”). In theory, the acts would stop online piracy and encourage creativity, but in practice, they do exactly the ...
... middle of paper ...
...n Kotchar. "Why You Should Fear SOPA and PIPA." Forbes. N.P, 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
"Intellectual Property." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
Potter, Ned. "SOPA Blackout: Wikipedia, Google, Wired Protest 'Internet Censorship'." ABC news. N.P., 8 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
"Freedom of Speech in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
"United States v. O'Brian." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
Tedford, Thomas L., and Dale A. Herbeck. Freedom of Speech in the United States. State College, PA: Strata Publishing, Inc., 2009. Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School District. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. .
Freedom of speech has been a controversial issue throughout the world. Our ability to say whatever we want is very important to us as individuals and communities. Although freedom of speech and expression may sometimes be offensive to other people, it is still everyone’s right to express his/her opinion under the American constitution which states that “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press”. Although this amendment gave people the right express thier opinions, it still rests in one’s own hands as how far they will go to exercise that right of freedom of speech.
1. The measure of a great society is the ability of its citizens to tolerate the viewpoints of those with whom they disagree. As Voltaire once said, “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Columbia). This right to express one's opinion can be characterized as “freedom of speech.” The concept of “freedom of speech” is a Constitutional right in the United States, guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution:
“I understand what their concerns are. There’s no question that [on Wikipedia and similar sites] some things are great and some things are questionable. Some of the pages could be by eighth graders,” he said. “But to simply say ‘don’t use that one’ might take students in the wrong direction from the perspective of information literacy.”
The United States of America is often known for having more freedom than anywhere else. As Gandhi said, “A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘yes’ uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” Freedom of speech is a big part of the American culture and citizens are encouraged to speak their minds and opinions openly. It is such an important aspect of each American individual that it is
Paulson, Ken. "Frequently Asked Questions - Speech." First Amendment Center. Http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org. Web. 21 May 2014. .
The Amendment I of the Bill of Rights is often called “the freedom of speech.” It provides a multitude of freedoms: of religion, of speech, of the press, to peacefully assemble, to petition the government. Religious freedom is vitally important to this day because it eliminates the problem of religious conflicts. Historically, many people died for their beliefs because their government only allowed and permitted one religion. T...
Hall, K. (2002, September 13). Free speech on public college campuses overview. Retrieved from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/free-speech-on-public-college-campuses
The best thing about living in America is the right to freedom. We are free to explore the Internet and go to any site you so desire. We are free to learn hacking techniques, about tools, or even acquire hacking information. Which is not always a bad thing. You have the right to go on Yahoo Chat and let the person your chatting with know that you don’t like them. It’s that thing we call freedom of speech. So why do we want to get rid of educational information, and put a hold on Internet users freedom of speech when it not being done out in the real world.
that some of the material that is on the net needs to be filtered and regulated. The word censorship is defined as examining any material and prohibiting what is objectionable, according to Webster’s II dictionary. Censoring the internet is a violation of the first ammendment rights of every citizen in the United States. There are two general truths that some people feel are attitudes towards censoring the internet. The first is that very few people admit to favoring it. The second is that no matter who you are, in a matter of minutes spent surfing the net almost anyone can find something that they find to be offensive. In fact, some web surfers feel that the truly inappropriate things are inspired by one’s own religion. For example, the Nurenberg Files website showed pictures of mangled fetuses with the photograph, name, and address of some abortion clinic doctors.
The Stop Online Piracy Act was proposed in January of 2012. SOPA was a legislative act that attempted to prevent piracy through DNS blocking and censorship. The legislation caused the protest and blackout of multiple online internet services including Reddit, 4Chan, Google, Wikipedia, Mozilla, and Tumblr. Now, internet users are faced with another possible challenge called the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA. CISPA was quickly passed by the House of Representatives on April 26th, 2012, and is now being processed through the Senate (Beadon). CISPA's purpose is to promote national cybersecurity through allowing private companies and the federal government to exchange users' private information, including emails and text messages, with complete legal immunity and one hundred percent anonymity. To some, CISPA appears as SOPA 2.0, another attempt to further limit American rights and privacy. Meanwhile, to others, CISPA appears as a milestone that needs to be reached in order to advance technologically and improve the nation's security. CISPA's purpose appears noble, but the current version of the legislation at least requires a revision due to its privacy invading policies, vague terminology, possible restrictions of internet freedom, and violation of the Fourth Amendment.
...o protect children from offensive material and threats from online, congressmen making the laws will have to be careful not to violate the rights of the people.
Freedom of speech cannot be considered an absolute freedom, and even society and the legal system recognize the boundaries or general situations where the speech should not be protected. Along with rights comes civil responsib...
Since the foundation of the United States after a harsh split from Britain, almost 200 years later, an issue that could claim the founding grounds for the country is now being challenged by educators, high-ranking officials, and other countries. Though it is being challenged, many libertarians, democrats, and free-speech thinkers hold the claim that censorship violates our so-called unalienable rights, as it has been proven throughout many court cases. Censorship in the United States is detrimental because it has drastically and negatively altered many significant events.
These reasons above are why my personal opinion is that SOPA should not be passed due to the fact that it would go against many of our rights including the first amendment. Whether it is the fact that online piracy can’t be stopped, the first amendment is being violated, or the government is becoming an overly powerful system, SOPA should not be passed to allow these things. So my personal question to you is, do you truly want to live in a world where all the information being shared is constantly monitored and edited by the government, or do you want to live in a world where you know that what your viewing is the way it is happening in the real world and you know it is one hundred percent true? Think about it and choose wisely.