Senate 968 (PIPA) and HR 3261 (SOPA) - Essay Example

STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT (SOPA) BACKGROUND: The use of computers and access to the internet in the United s of America is well over the 80% mark. Most jobs are done online, businesses deals are undertaken online and the aspect of demography being a barrier to trade is well overcome. But with this came the menace of cyber crime. Fraudsters are devising digital ways of carrying out their deals over the internet and hacking into private portals then using the information to black mail others as an easier way of making quick money in the US.

In an aim to help protect the American population from cyber crime, a bill named Stop Online Piracy Act was introduced into the House of Representatives by the US representative, Lamar Smith.The bill gives the American citizen a feeling of safety. However, its execution and scope of coverage raises controversy. This nullifies the essence of the bill in its totality1.For instance, what the bill does not say is that its aim is to censure the content published in most websites. Consequently, it is going to limit freedom of speech and discourage innovation in the sectors of IT and trade.

Such transactions as wired money transfer and mobile money transfers would have to be monitored by government agencies and this would slow down businesses2.To conclude, the idea behind the bill is welcome, but there are better ways of doing this. The easiest being the assimilation of the Online Protection and enforcement of Digital trade Act3. It is a better alternative puts a limit on internet protocols threatening mainstream US sites i.e. Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter.Notes1.

Andrew Puddephat, Freedom of Expression, the essentials of human rights (Oxford: Oxford University press, 2005).2. Sanders KAREN, Ethics and Journalism (New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2003)3. Raaflub KURT, Origins of democracy (Californian: University of California, 2007)