(Semi-)Blacked out to stand against SOPA/PIPA

Why the black bars up in the corners today? you may be wondering. A day of mourning? Not exactly.

Without completely blacking out my site (i wanted you to still be able to see me! well, and to give a little explanation of what’s going on, too), I’m joining thousands of others to put the Internet on strike for a day in an act of protest against the proposed Internet censorship bills SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act in the House) and PIPA (Protect IP Act in the Senate). SO-what?

Essentially these 2 controversial pieces of legislation aim to put control of the Internet in the hands of the government and corporations, namely the entertainment industry. They claim it’s to try to crack down on rogue foreign websites and Internet theft, but a core goal of these bills is really to get people to maybe buy more Hollywood movies. What the what? Yeah, I know, that’s what I thought too.

There are, of course, many more intricacies to and repercussions of these bills, and my synopsis above barely scratches the surface. Please watch this video for an excellent recap of what may happen if this legislation does pass.

If you’d like to join me in the protest, head on over here and here for details and to email Congress to stop the bills. For the sake of retaining my freedom to keep my blog as I know it, thank you!