Will the SOPA bill kill the Internet? | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Will the SOPA bill kill the Internet?

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Listen to Google, Facebook, PayPal and other Web companies, and you’ll hear that an online Armageddon is near: Bills now pending in Congress to thwart online piracy would violate free speech, destroy the technological underpinnings of the Web and hinder the user-generated innovation like the next YouTube or Twitter. Listen to Walt Disney, the NFL, Eli Lilly and a slew of entertainment and manufacturing companies, and you’ll hear that the Internet is a lawless Wild West: Congress is only trying to be the sheriff and save American jobs, make sure writers and artists are paid and protect the public from fake Viagra and Coach bags peddled online.

So who is right? The truth, as is often the case in heated battles on Capitol Hill between deep-pocketed constituencies that eye each other suspiciously, comes down somewhere in the middle.


Will the SOPA bill kill the Internet?