Canadians Join Internet Strike Against SOPA

SOPA contains provisions that would give the American government and private corporations the ability to force ISPs to cripple any website that they allege has made use of copyrighted materials. SOPA would also force websites like Google, Wikipedia, or Reddit to block links to content that they suspect may be copyrighted.

According to online rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the U.S. legislation:

..would grant the government and private parties unprecedented power to interfere with the Internet's underlying infrastructure. The government would be able to force ISPs and search engines to block users' attempts to reach certain websites' URLs... the blacklist bills' provisions would give corporations and other private parties new powers to censor foreign websites with court orders that would cut off payment processors and advertisers.

Those foreign websites include ones found in Canada. Michael Geist warns that “Canadian businesses and websites could easily find themselves targeted by SOPA.” Canadian Internet users and online innovators have a lot to lose if SOPA is passed. The bill could threaten the open Internet in the U.S., Canada, and the rest of the world.

Canadians can take a stand against SOPA here: http://openmedia.ca/sopa

About OpenMedia.ca

OpenMedia.ca is a non-profit organization that safeguards the open and affordable Internet. The group works towards informed & participatory digital policy.

Contact

Lindsey Pinto
Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca
778-238-7710
[email protected]