Choking off free speech on the web

"What makes SOPA and PIPA especially toxic is the threat they pose to all dimensions of a website's existence - physical presence, findability and revenue stream."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Choking off free speech on the web: The two draft laws, SOPA and PIPA, in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have raised a storm on the Internet.

Strong fears haunt U.S. companies who dread losing innovation, online traffic, and thus jobs and commerce to other countries that guarantee freedom.

The toxic potential of these bills lies in their capacity to comprehensively throttle free speech, at least until a new competitive set of alternatives emerges.

Governments that guarantee free speech should baulk at the controversial American model to suppress their own citizens. Yet, in India, there will obviously be keen interest for a possible replication. Even now, the Indian IT Act, 2000 contains provisions that would not meet the accepted definition of judicial due process. There may be a specific case to remove material that is obviously inflammatory and capable of doing harm, but the policy compass clearly points to a lurking desire for censorship.

If SOPA and PIPA were to succeed in America, the move towards copycat laws in India can only be a step away!

Wikipedia shutdown to protest piracy bills

"The legislative battle over two Internet piracy bills has reached an extraordinary moment — a political coming of age for a relatively young and disorganised industry that has largely steered clear of lobbying and other political games in Washington."

"The controversial bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, are backed by major media companies and are mostly intended to curtail the illegal downloading and streaming of TV shows and movies online. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Wikipedia shutdown to protest piracy bills: But the tech industry fears that, among other things, they will give media companies too much power to shut down sites that they say are abusing copyrights."

Proponents emphasise that their primary targets are foreign websites that sell counterfeit goods, that are now largely out of reach of U.S. law enforcement. And they are fighting against what they characterise as gimmicks and distortions by Internet companies opposed to the Bills.

"This is the first real test of the political strength of the Web, and regardless of how things go, they are no longer a pushover". The Silicon valley industry says that the problem could be solved by letting it do what it does best, innovate.