The Truth Behind the Pipa and Sopa Acts

We feel the same outrage as many other Americans due to the new SOPA and PIPA bill that the United States government is trying to pass. What has provoked the government to seek complete censorship over the internet, and ultimately take away the knowledge that its citizens have been so accustomed to?

Who exactly is advocating this unfair campaign? Why are they trying to take down the largest online companies such as GOOGLE, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia? And how could something so absurd even penetrate the minds of our U.S. politicians, especially when we are entitled to reside in a free country?

Here at Elite Daily, we will present to you an in-depth analysis of why this bill is currently underway; we want to just warn you now that the situation is quite bleak. The bill, if passed, would expand the jurisdiction of the US law enforcement, and allow copyright holders to fight the internet with the intention of implementing complete censorship. Take a second to imagine if our privileges of using the internet would completely vanish. The internet should remain as a free place where we can communicate, obtain knowledge, and seek some entertainment.

The bill pushes the boundaries as it will eventually allow officials to federally arrest owners and founders of our leading online industries. Each individual could face at least a minimum penalty of 5 years in jail, because the government dislikes the content they are bringing to the people. How mind boggling does that sound to you?

What can we attribute to the government’s motive for creating and passing this bill?

Old politicians and bureaucrats occupy most of our offices in the government; the average age of a typical elected official ranges from 50-70 years of age. What we, as a public, tend to forget is that most of these public officials are also very wealthy businessmen. We also remain blind to the fact that most of the businessmen have invested interests in the printing industry, and have bought large sums of print publications such as newspapers, magazines etc.

Official usually invest large sums of money into print, because their printing investments enable them to sustain their positions in office and ensure votes from the public. In order to win in the polls, massive amounts of marketing dollars go towards print to promote and advertise a candidate. So, the most effective move would be to consume the print media industry and allow candidates to pay a mere fraction of the price it typically costs to advertise.

For the longest time, print advertising dominated the voting arena and allowed politicians to maintain their positions in office. For a businessman and politician, it makes much more sense to buy and establish control over a given printing publication; once in power, the owner could manipulate voters to elect them.

Now, we venture into the tricky side of this situation. In the past ten years, the internet has revolutionized modern life; print media is slowly fading away into non-existence. On the other hand, young and technologically savvy entrepreneurs are on the rise; unlike print media, online publications are experiencing an interminable boom.

Since politicians are not able to slow down the pace of the internet, they seek to save their invested interest in print media by censoring the public’s use of the internet. They will certainly not allow their money to burn away, or spend more money to recreate their platforms in order to generate votes.

Unfortunately, there are still more layers to this tricky situation. One needs large printing presses to publish anything, and successful politicians have already invested large sums of money to build these necessary presses. The printing press’s production also includes textbooks and books; keep in mind, Borders has just filed for bankruptcy and Barnes & Noble is on the same route.

The demand for printing non-online books is dissipating, because almost everything is now available online. So, the pockets of these businessmen and politicians greatly shrinks compared to the growth of the online industry.

Now, all of these assertions may initially appear absurd to you, but our real and cold world reminds us that politicians can have invested interests. When a businessman senses his pocket brushing shoulders with danger, they will do absolutely everything in their power to secure themselves. Hence, we now have the creation of the SOPA bill. If the SOPA becomes a federal law, the printing industry saves itself from a downfall; more importantly, politicians that own sectors of the printing press would bask in financial security.

Again, we question why would the government seek to take down companies such as GOOGLE, Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia?

All of these sites previously mention are some of the leading online platforms as well as some of the highest trafficked sites in this country. Untraditional businessmen created these sites and have carved out their own slice of the American dream. Instead of following a set road to climb up the social or corporate ladder, these men harnessed their own entrepreneurial spirit to gravity their sites to the present popularity and success. Each website offers an extensive amount of content, and perpetually influences the daily lives of the public.

Politicians usually do not invest in these “untraditional” online companies, and officials rarely display any involvement with these sites. Websites now generate most news reports, and ultimately influence the decision making of the people. At one point, people believed Rupert Murdoch, owner of the biggest printing publications in Europe, was the most powerful man in politics, but he never became a public official. Why? Because he had the power to dictate the news and affect the opinions of people though his media.

Barack Obama, the youngest and first black president of the U.S., won the presidency, because the American youth went out to vote for him. Obama proved able to utilize those four aforementioned sites, and his online success absolutely blew the minds of his competitors. Now, the next election approaches, and the government wants to place censorship over the internet.

Yes, we agree that this all sounds extraordinary, but there are some underlying truths to it all. America was built on certain values and strove to be free from the reins of the Old World. In addition, the country promoted the freedom and expression of citizens, allowing them to grow and prosper by their own accords.

Unfortunately, we occupy some of the darkest days for our innate American freedom; our internet rights should remain as they are now. Our founding fathers would suffer a mild stroke if the SOPA and PIPA bill passed. Regrettably, we see our country slowly create a big brother atmosphere, stripping away our given rights and dismantling our perceptions of American freedom.

Elite Daily