SOPA/PIPA

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   As most of the modern, Internet-dependent world was well aware, yesterday saw an unprecedented “blackout” of major websites, namely Google and Wikipedia, among others. If you haven’t heard of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA, the Protect IP ACT, they are anti-piracy bills proposed to stop copyright infringement and illegal downloading, allow for the suing of such sites, journalists, and individuals. In order to do this, the government would have to censor the web, blocking countless websites, and restricting what search engines can provide to users. However, these bills wouldn't even be effective, as the sites could still be accessed by typing in the IP address and therefore still allowing downloads. The targets of the bills would mainly be sites based in other countries. SOPA has received massive opposition, and is currently in the process of being reworked, which could take months. Now that SOPA is in the public eye and heavily resisted, it is constantly losing popularity (1, 2).

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   So where does rhetoric and civic engagement come into play? The potential passing of these bills has created some major forms of protest, unsurprising since it aims to hinder the one of the rights that America was founded on – freedom. Yesterday, January 18, was an Internet blackout day, where sites like Google and Wikipedia showed their negative response to the bills. Wikipedia entirely shut down for the day, effectively proving its point and further deterring procrastinating college students all over the country. Google, though remaining up and functioning (Thankfully! It would be hard for me to go even one day without Googling something – further proof of how lost we would be with a censored Internet.), placed a blackout bar over its logo and a link to instructions on how concerned citizens could contact their Congressional representatives. Countless videos explaining the bills and their negative consequences were released to YouTube and other sites, as well as a myriad of articles. Almost every website I visited yesterday had links to petitions to sign, or rousing slogans encouraging me to call my representative. Even my personal social network sites were taken over by it. I was invited to Facebook events to demonstrate my discord to the bills by joining and showing solidarity, spreading the word, and making a difference by calling my representative. Those I follow on Twitter, especially celebrities who hold a lot of power to persuade others due to their prominent social status, wrote countless tweets to raise awareness.

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   The hype over SOPA and PIPA and stopping them at all costs spread ridiculously fast, effectively proving how when people care about a cause, they will not hesitate to become civically engaged and use rhetoric to persuade others successfully to care about the cause, too. After all, I started yesterday knowing nothing about SOPA, PIPA, or the blackout, and ending it by signing a petition. 

1. https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/


2. http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/17/technology/sopa_explained/index.htm