Shut down

Yesterday, there was a demonstration all over the Internet.  It involved the new SOPA and PIPA laws being brought to Congress.  The laws are basically being brought in to stop online piracy.  You see, tons of awful music and terrible movies are being shared on the Internet for free.  The government wants to stop the websites  that perform this activity so that the record companies and movie studios can get all the money they wasted back.  When you spend millions of dollars on terrible things, you want to recoup as much as humanly possible.  Someone has to pay for all those auto-tuned artists out there, so why not the longsuffering customer?  I will preface by saying that stealing copyrighted materials is wrong and should not be done. However it seems as if the government is kind of missing the boat on this.  The law they're trying to pass isn't just going to stop websites from distributing copyrighted products.  This also says that if a copyrighted product ends up on a website like YouTube, Facebook, or other huge sites, the website can be shut down without due process.  It means that if I mention a particular product (see my blog about Firehouse Subs), the big wigs of the Internet can shut down my blog and throw me in jail for 5 years.  I've seen a few references to this, but basically I'd be in jail longer for playing a Michael Jackson video than killing Michael Jackson accidentally.  I think they should rethink this.  Seems like they're bringing a bazooka to a water gun fight.  There's no need to ruin everything because of a few pirates out there.  Considering how much theft the American Government is guilty of stealing from and ruining the budget, you'd think they'd try to figure out how to stop piracy without destroying everything we hold dear.  Look, there's no two ways about it, the Internet is an important part of our daily lives.  People use the Internet to communicate, pay bills, and other essential things.  It's not fair that everyone has to be on pins and needles because of some websites' inability to follow the law and have respect for those who work hard to produce the items that are being stolen.  I'm not going to tell you what to do as far as how you should get involved.  It's your life.  If you feel like this is something worth fighting for, then by all means, go get a petition and sign it.  I'm not sure how the ending will turn out.  I do know that I'll have to be fairly careful about what I access and what I use on a daily basis.  I think the worst part is the lack of due process needed.  The fact that the government can shut down something without warning scares me.  Actually it shouldn't.  These final days are pretty much all about shutting down people's ability to think for themselves.  America was just late to the party compared to China and North Korea.  Read Revelation, people.  It's chock full of things that are kinda sorta happening right now.