http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

[tetrapod]

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representative s on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.[2] Now before the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.[3]
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.[4]
Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites.[5] They cite examples such as Google's $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice for its role in a scheme to target U.S. consumers with ads to buy illegal prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies.
Opponents say that it violates the First Amendment,[6] is Internet censorship,[7] will cripple the Internet,[8] and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech.[6][9] Opponents have initiated a number of protest actions, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and even proposed service blackouts by major Internet companies scheduled to coincide with the next Congressional hearing on the matter.
The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011. The Committee was scheduled to continue debate in January 2012.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

[hmongtown]

I think if this bill pass, our life will not be the same anymore. Too much laws and regulations. There is no perfect things, how can companies monitor all these things when there are millions of people doing this crack.

It's like stopping people not downloading music and sharing music online. At first, they were able to stop it, but now look at it? When there are millions doing it, it's tough to monitor and enforce such law.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representative s on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.[2] Now before the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.[3]
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.[4]
Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites.[5] They cite examples such as Google's $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice for its role in a scheme to target U.S. consumers with ads to buy illegal prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies.
Opponents say that it violates the First Amendment,[6] is Internet censorship,[7] will cripple the Internet,[8] and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech.[6][9] Opponents have initiated a number of protest actions, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and even proposed service blackouts by major Internet companies scheduled to coincide with the next Congressional hearing on the matter.
The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011. The Committee was scheduled to continue debate in January 2012.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

[tetrapod]

I think if this bill pass, our life will not be the same anymore. Too much laws and regulations. There is no perfect things, how can companies monitor all these things when there are millions of people doing this crack.

It's like stopping people not downloading music and sharing music online. At first, they were able to stop it, but now look at it? When there are millions doing it, it's tough to monitor and enforce such law.

They would just take down a site that is suspected of violating privacy law.  Wiki leak would be down.

[8v10un30sun]

SOPA is a direct attack on the 1st amendment.

[hmongtown]

They would just take down a site that is suspected of violating privacy law.  Wiki leak would be down.

I think Wikileak was created by political, there's complicate things behind it, we just don't know. Guess what if you have such information, you must have been hacking to government systems, you would be in big trouble. 

This act is not only about privacy, it's also about copyrights, that mean youtube will be in big trouble, google, facebook, there are countless companies.

[Toua]

so i guess this will pretty much shut down some big sites that we visit every day

[hmongtown]

so i guess this will pretty much shut down some big sites that we visit every day

It will not shut the big sites down, but they will be different. Things will change.

Not much more free stuffs.....

[Toua]

soon, we will be required to enter our SSN # to log onto the internet.