18
Jan

SOPA & PIPA: The Rise of the Laggards!

Why did we black out our branding and website for the day?
We blacked out our site in an effort to help the fight against the SOPA and PIPA bills. Obviously internet marketing firms would still be needed, but we would not be as prominently needed for increasing ones market share and would eventually need to study copyright and intellectual property law just to prevent everyone from getting burned. We’d eventually become like the MDJD law firm, but instead of being a doctor and a lawyer, we would be an internet marketer and a lawyer. (Please visit IMIPJD.com for more info… j/k). It is important to know that if it weren’t for the many of these large innovative internet based businesses like Google, this article would probably never get written and/or our careers would simply not exist. However, since we do exist and we are beyond that point… innovations like Turntable which plays a large role in our company culture and overall daily energy would not exist either and that is hard for me to swallow.

Summary of below: What will you discover in this article?

- Why we blacked out our site for the day
- What SOPA and PIPA are and how important it is to fight
- How SOPA/PIPA will essentially force us to all become laggards

Let’s inspect one of the writers of these amazing bills shall we? Don’t worry, I will absolutely be judging him.

Citation: THANKS WEASELZIPPERS.US

Check this dude out… This is a first person view of a computer as he attempted to turn it on for the first time back in May of 2011. *Notice the mild confusion and excitement as he sees a light begin to glow.*

In summary:
Do you think this guy really knows what is best for the future of the intnernet? Highly unlikely…

Being a strong follower of tech ventures and seeking new business startups in the industry that could be a game changer, I would be very disappointed to see a new start up like http://dropost.it not be able to launch because of something written within the SOPA or PIPA bills. These guys really have their stuff together and would miss out on a huge opportunity.
This is very serious and it is very nice to see many of the top dogs participating and using their assets to spread the word as heavily as they possibly can. On a side note… this might be the most productive day in the world of business with Reddit being down. (Citation: Tyler Lincoln quote from Sunday night)
If you aren’t familiar with SOPA or PIPA, here is a quick summary of what you need to know for the sake of sweet irony I have provided the link to the Wikipedia references.

SOPA = Stop Online Piracy Act
- The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.

PIPA = Protect IP Act
- The PROTECT IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 or PIPA), also known as Senate Bill 968 or S. 968, is a proposed law with the stated goal of giving the US government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods”, especially those registered outside the U.S.
- The PROTECT IP Act is a re-write of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA),[5] which failed to pass in 2010. A similar House version of the bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced on October 26, 2011.