SOPA

Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership SOPA 2.0? Anonymous Says So

By Victoria Bekiempis Wed., Feb. 1 2012 at 1:41 PM
Categories: Anonymous, Internet, Internet Piracy, PIPA, SOPA, Victoria Bekiempis

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First came SOPA and PIPA, but now internet-liberty advocates -- such as hacktivist group Anonymous -- warn that a new measure, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be the next affront to a free web.

The org tweeted this morning a rally to stop the TPP, which is currently being negotiated in Hollywood.

The free-trade agreement -- now discussed by nine nations including the U.S. -- is said to include rules on intellectual property that would make participating countries adopt "copyright measures far more restrictive than currently required by international treaties, including the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement," according to the Electric Frontier Foundation.

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Anonymous

What We Talk About When We Talk About SOPA

By Victoria Bekiempis Tue., Jan. 17 2012 at 5:59 PM
Categories: Anonymous, Internet Piracy, PIPA, SOPA

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SOPA, the Stop Internet Piracy Act, is the latest congressional move to put an end to the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material.

The basic idea of SOPA -- now considered in the House of Representatives -- and its Senate analog, the Protect Intellectual Property Act, purportedly aims at protecting intellectual property.

Critics -- including sci-fi star William Gibson, who wrote cyberpunk classic Neuromancer and came up with the term "cyberspace" -- say that the proposed laws are so poorly written, however, that they threaten freedom of speech, according to the Wall Street Journal. They say that websites could get in trouble simply for featuring links to other websites containing copyrighted media.

Though lawmakers seem less enthused about SOPA and PIPA than before -- MSNBC reports that supporters have eased up, that the Obama administration has voiced uncertainty about the bill, and that votes on both legislations have been delayed -- internet giants have planned a "blackout" tomorrow to protest the proposed laws. Their basic plan: to go dark for a day and "display a message of protest on a black background."

Among them?

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