Despite the long delay since the last post, exposing some of the horrid implications of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA) are simply too important to remain mute on. Not that I am pretty much every breathing person concerned for the future of information and absence of censorship online have not gone through the obligatory hoops: writing congressmen and the president, blah, blah, blah.

My hat’s off to those in New York who have gone a great leap beyond and protested in the streets (thousands of them).

That is not to say that the overwhelmingly and near-universally negative response to SOPA/PIPA has made any legislator formerly backing it suddenly realize that they are acting in complete contradiction to their constituency, alas. There are simply too many corporate interests at work here for any avaricious congressman to bow out, or – God forbid – vote in alignment with the people of this country.

The mollified gist is that SOPA/PIPA would allow rights-holders to request a take-down of any Web site infringing on IP protected by US copyright. The default example that all proponents are using – including my own Rep Bob used-to-get-my-vote Goodlatte (R-Roanoke County) offers is that this act would help stop pirate pills from being sold online. Nobody likes pirate pharmaceuticals (though they are very largely opt-in, especially on the Net), so it’s an easy red herring in this case.

Alas, the wording of SOPA/PIPA makes it clear that – on top of stopping all those Russian sites selling fake Viagra and Cialis – there would remain the possibility for rights-holders to take down any site working “to facilitate” such sites. Y’know, like Google. Or Wikipedia. Or any site onto which links to such sites are posted.

Anyone who’s ever operated a blog knows that fake comments abound with hyperlinks to all manner of pills (the majority of which I’m sure are about as pukka as they are licensed). While the mighty and benevolent Askemet excises most of these, the ones that get through could place any such blog on the list of sites “facilitating” the “theft of US property” and could therefore be shut down.

Oh, and – as usual – it’s shoot first and ask questions later, much like how Draconian code boots suspected infringement on sites such as YouTube or auctions on eBay. No verification or investigation required: we’ll just take the rights-holders’ words for law and yank information of the Net. Y’know – that platform that feeds off user-generated content, freedom of speech, and openness.

Have no doubt, this is merely one more step on the road to turning the Net into nothing more than a digital shopping mall.

Remember citizens: don’t contribute, consume.