Internet Censorship Alert

Right now in Congress are two bad bills that are supposedly aimed at preventing Internet piracy but may actually give the government tools by which to shut down any Web site that big businesses find objectionable. Here's the deal: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) working its way through the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the Senate would give the government the right to block foreign or offshore Web sites that show pirated movies and the like, such as video streams coming out of China that allow one to see a movie currently in the theaters online.

This makes sense, until you realize that the bills as written give the feds the right to shut down any Web site for any reason related to copyright laws. Let's say that some kid makes a video of himself singing a song that's copyrighted and posts it on YouTube, similar to what Justin Bieber did. The owner of the copyright could threaten to sue YouTube for allowing the video to be posted and demand that it be removed. YouTube would have so many uploads to monitor to look for similar videos, it would have to shut down rather than try to police itself or let the government shut it down first.

Stopping another Justin Bieber - who, as a Canadian, would technically be a foreign pirate in this case - sounds tempting, but it would also prevent free speech in the form of video or any other content that could suddenly fall under this jurisdiction. Hence you would have an Internet that is nowhere nearly as open and free as it is now. It would be under complete corporate control. And a YouTube-less Internet would mean that I can't offer a Music Video Of the Week here anymore! No wonder both Tea Partiers and progressives - both known for using the Internet to spread their ideas - are against these bills, as is a bipartisan group of members of Congress. But another bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a Democrat known for being a fan of the Grateful Dead - who let fans tape their concerts - is for them, and Leahy is one of PIPA's sponsors.

To demonstrate that free and open exchanges of online content should be allowed, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. In October 2006, I took this photograph of a 1987 Volkswagen Golf, as part of my hobby in photographing VWs on the streets and in parking lots.

Just recently, I found that someone - likely someone from abroad - had used this very same picture in a YouTube video depicting Golfs throughout the model line's history, and my picture was used to illustrate a Golf from the second generation. My picture appears exactly one minute into the video. Did I complain? Did I threaten to sue? No! I was flattered that this person used my picture for the video, which is why, in the spirit of a free and open Internet, I'm including it in my post.

If Congress wants to stop offshore piracy of blockbuster movies, there are better ways to do so than the bills both houses are currently considering.