User blog:.Seshat./Internet goes on Strike.

On January the 18th, 2012, many sites we all use will shut down for the day in protest to SOPA/PIPA.

What are SOPA and PIPA?

SOPA and PIPA are bills that are set to go before the United States Congress on the 24th that, if passed, will allow the US Department of Justice to go through the Internet, hunt down and completely shut down sites that infringe on a very widely and unjustly defined "piracy".

Sites such as deviantART, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikia, along with so many more, would be shut down.

This has caused such a stir, and so many powerful Internet moguls strongly oppose it that, on the 18th, sites such as Wikipedia, Twitter and Reddit will shut down for the whole day in protest.

And why are they protesting?

For you.

Because these bills completely trample all over your First Amendment Right to Free Speech, your right to a fair trial, and your creative commons rights.

These bills are tyrannical and unconstitutional.

So what can you do?

Protest alongside Wikipedia, and Twitter, and Reddit. Even if all you can do is sign the many online petitions available.

Change.org has almost reached its quota of 150,000 signatures; if you're ages 13+, go there and sign! Post it on your Twitters, your Facebooks, tell your friends and family!

You can make a difference!

For a full list of sites that will be shutting down on the 18th, go to StrikeAgainstSOPA.com.