I know I said I was planning to post every day for a month.  However, I’m making an exception tomorrow for a very important reason.  I’m going on strike, along with many other sites, to protest two proposed bills with some very scary implications.

These bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) have flashy titles that sound good on the surface.  Piracy’s bad, right?  Not so fast – these deceptively simple titles hide some truly scary provisions that could cripple online security and chill freedom of expression.

Don’t get me wrong – protecting intellectual property rights is important. However, the measures taken to protect these rights need to be balanced with the need for freedom of expression.  A process needs to be in place to ensure due process for those accused of infringing upon someone else’s intellectual property rights.  These laws take innocent until proven guilty and turn it on its head – under a regime like that, freedom of expression won’t just be chilled. It will be frozen.

Want to learn more?  First, watch the video below for a quick primer.  Then, head to Stop American Censorship to learn more and to find out how you can join the strike tomorrow.  Check out this infographic.  Learn more in this great (yet terrifying) article.  Write your Senator and Representative.  Whatever you do, don’t let Congress break the Internet.

(Via Fight for the Future on Vimeo)

Thanks to my friends at Something Wagging This Way Comes and Will My Dog Hate Me for alerting me to tomorrow’s protest.

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