You may be wondering what happened to Wikipedia today (January 18, 2012) or where the Google doodle went. Or perhaps you noticed nothing amiss because you’re a small business owner and are busy trying to make a living! Whatever the case, Wikipedia and many other websites have “gone black” in protest over the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP ACT (PIPA). Google’s doodle was hidden in support of the protest. “SOPA, the House of Representative’s version, and PIPA, its Senate counterpart, target foreign websites that intentionally steal copyrighted material and intellectual property for their own profits. The bills are strongly backed by the U.S. film and recording industries. Legislation already enacted — the Digital Millenium Copyright Act — protects intellectual property and provides for that content to be removed from sites when its use is unauthorized. SOPA and PIPA are different in that they would allow the…
Read More
