Post by The 99 Declaration on Feb 1, 2012 8:50:28 GMT -5
The theft of intellectual property and online piracy should be prohibited. However, in 1983, approximately 50 corporations controlled all news media outlets in the United States. Today, ownership of the news media and virtually all content has been concentrated in the hands of about six powerful corporations which are often parents or subsidiaries of corporations that sell their products through the mainstream media. This limitation and control of traditional media outlets highlights the critical importance of an uncensored Internet accessible to all of humanity. The Internet and its related technologies foster free speech, innovation, and foster a global human consciousness. We believe that the Internet and its related technologies are the joint property and work-product of humanity, and as such, it must not be censored without the consent of the people who utilize and contribute to its vitality. We therefore demand the immediate withdrawal or repeal on passage of the Stop Online Piracy Act or “SOPA” (H.R. 3261) and the Protect IP Act or “PIPA” (S. 968). While the theft of online intellectual property must be prevented, these bills, if enacted into law, will grant the government and internet service providers broad new powers to curtail speech on the Internet, block domain names, track internet protocol (“IP”) addresses, dramatically increase the cost of using content on the internet, and ultimately chill innovation and creativity of web entrepreneurs in favor of a few media corporations that already own or control most media content. The Internet is the last outlet of free speech available to the 99%.