Piracy and You

Posted by Gabriel Musselman in English 1 - Dunn on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 11:11 pm

For a 9th grade English project, my class is researching and blogging about topics that we find interesting or relevant to us. After thinking long and hard about this, a light bulb came on over my head. Aha! That’s it! Internet piracy. Internet piracy is one of the most talked about and debated topics in the United States and all throughout the world these days, and it’s all due to three small laws that seemed harmless to the world until they were brought to light by the internet community. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), CISPA (Cyber Intelligence and Sharing Protection Act), and PIPA (Protect IP Act) are probably the most controversial technology laws to date in the U.S.

These laws were brought about with the intentions of stopping internet piracy and protecting copyrights, but many believe they have overstepped their bounds. If these laws were or are passed, it could potentially invade the privacy of every internet user in the entire country. Basically, these laws put the power to investigate, judge, and criminalize into the power of the entertainment industry, which is the main target of online pirates. How is this legal, you ask? The government believes that this will help put the power of copyright into the creator’s hands, but really all it is doing is deputizing the entertainment industry and giving them the means to act on their own accord. If this happened then the right of privacy would be taken away from every citizen of this country.

This is why it interests me. I personally don’t enjoy being told how to live my life by someone who has no authority over me. Pirating is a personal choice, and no one should make your decisions for you. The problem is that most pirates do not find anything wrong with what they are doing (says a Go-Gulf.com article). Maybe this is why most people find these laws to be ridiculous. They think that they are trying to take away the ability to choose. Well, I’m with them. I won’t stand by while the entertainment industry tries to take away my rights. I won’t have it! You can help too! Contact your local Congressman and tell him how you feel about SOPA, PIPA, and CISPA!

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/04/cispa-sopa-pipa-and-biglobbying.html

http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/online-piracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement

Comments (2)

Raekwon Smith

I noticed that you were very passionate about this topic. I wonder how other people feel about this topic What if piracy was banned

Brian Birkmire

I notice your enthusiasm in this topic, you really show this topic means something to you. I wonder if we can all send a letter to our local congressman to give our opinions. What if you talked to Mrs. Dunn about it, the more people that send their opinion the better!