Many of the Internet's most popular sites, such as Wikipedia and Reddit, staged a blackout today in protest of two pieces of legislation: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) from the House and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate.
The aims for SOPA and PIPA are to stop foreign sites from abusing intellectual property rights and pirating electronic media such as movies, music and video games. Supporters of the bills state they will help to protect American intellectual property and therefore secure jobs. Opponents, which include the aforementioned sites as well as online giants Google and Amazon, claim the language in SOPA and PIPA is too vague and powerful, and will unfairly punish websites and stifle innovation.
Kyle A. Richardson is the editorial director of Promo Marketing. He joined the company in 2006 brings more than a decade of publishing, marketing and media experience to the magazine. If you see him, buy him a drink.