Jan. 18, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised Wikipedia.org and other websites that are striking against legislation that would censor the Internet:
“Wikipedia and other websites are to be praised for going black today, and showing what the world might be like without websites that depend on user contributions. Whether intended or not, SOPA and PIPA will result in a regime of censorship on the Internet, particularly targeted at sites that allow users to upload content without restriction.
“Because of the broad language of the bills in both houses, any site that allegedly ‘facilitates’ features that could be used for posting copyrighted materials could be targeted, along with their revenue streams and visibility in search engines, by the government. The problem is that’s any site that allows uploading, which is practically every social network and blogging website on the Internet.
“Existing protections under the Digital Copyright Millennium Act already provide for the removal of copyrighted material from user-based websites, and give safe harbor to sites that actively remove content that violates intellectual property. SOPA and PIPA will override those safe harbor provisions, and take the posture that websites are guilty until proven innocent. In a free society, that is unacceptable. It is un-American.”
Attachments:
SOPA: Lamar Smith’s copyright hypocrisy, ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano (Jan. 17, 2012) at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/lamar-smiths-copyright-hypocrisy/ .
“Government Already Blocking Internet Access,” ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano (Dec. 16, 2011) at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/12/government-already-blocking-internet-access/ .
ALG: Internet Censorship Bill ‘un-American’, Press Release (Dec. 14, 2011) at http://getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=807 .
Letter to Members of the House Judiciary Committee, ALG President Bill Wilson (Dec.14, 2011) at http://netrightdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/AntiSOPA-12-14-11.pdf .
“An Internet Without Uploading?” ALG President Bill Wilson (Dec. 14, 2011) at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/12/an-internet-without-uploading/ .
“Internet piracy bill: A free speech ‘kill switch’,” ALG President Bill Wilson, The Hill (Dec. 12, 2011) at http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/198687-internet-piracy-bill-a-free-speech-kill-switch .
Interview with ALG President Bill Wilson, WGEM, Hosts Rich Cain and Lindsey Hess, Quincy, IL (Dec. 12, 2011) at http://my.wgem.com/_Bill-Wilson-Americans-for-Limited-Govt/audio/916294/29404.html .
“Legislation by Rep. Lamar Smith equals Internet censorship,” ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano (Dec. 12, 2011) at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/12/legislation-by-rep-lamar-smith-equals-internet-censorship/ .
Bipartisan Letter from Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Darrell Issa against Internet Censorship Bill (Nov. 8, 2011) at http://gov20.govfresh.com/issa-and-lofgren-dear-colleague-letter-versus-sopa/ .
Three Libertarians Raise Concerns about the Stop Online Piracy Act, Cato Institute (Nov. 7, 2011) at http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/three-libertarians-raise-concerns-about-the-stop-online-piracy-act/ .
“Guilty until proven innocent,” By ALG Communications Director Rick Manning, Nov. 16, 2011 at http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/193901-guilty-until-proven-innocent .
Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
###