Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Web Piracy Bill

If you want to use Wikipedia today, you won't be able to.  The website is going dark for 24 hours to protest proposed laws to curb Internet piracy. Google is also protesting and has a link to see the legislation on its site. The Denver Post says bills in the House and Senate would enable the US Department of Justice to shut down websites that "engage in , enable, or facilitate" copyright infringement.  Supporters in the movie and recording industries, big unions and the US Chamber of Commerce say international Internet piracy is killing jobs in America.  Opponents say censoring search engines will have unitended consequences.  Colorado's  Senator Michael Bennet is distancing himself from the bill, Senator Mark Udall is against it.  A vote in the Senate is scheduled next week.