User blog:Forestpaw13/SOPA and PIPA

I'm sure all of you guys have questions about the two new bills discussing the Internet that US Congress is considering. I'm here to answer them. (Be aware that this is my opinion, but there is some basis in fact. Feel free to look stuff up for yourself, but don't expect it to be unbiased.)

First of all... What do SOPA and PIPA stand for? And what exactly do they say?
The Stop Online Piracy Act (referred to here as SOPA) is a bill proposed in 2011 to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and copyrighted goods. What does that mean? That means losing all of the things you love: Wikia, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, possibly Google... the list goes on and on.

The Protect IP Act (referred to here as PIPA) is a bill similar to that of SOPA that will give the US government and copyright holders additional tools to to curb access to "rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods", especially those registered outside the U.S.

Second... What does this mean?
This means, in all bluntness, that everything the world loves about the Internet will disappear. This isn't only about the loss of websites that we like, this is about increasing the economy and our knowledge of the world around us. Wikipedia and Google and Facebook give us important tools to learn. And learning is a right that, while not guaranteed by any Bill of Rights or another set of laws that I know of, can never be taken away.

Third... Will the bills get passed?
There are two major opinions that I want you guys to know here: mine, and the rest of the world's.

The rest of the world seems to think that the US Congress will pass the bill and we will therefore have no rights whatsoever. It will end all things good about the Internet.

My opinion: Congress will not pass the specific bills in question. Why? Well, for those of you who don't really understand US government, I need to explain something first. The US Government is made up of three branches: Legislative (Congress, divided into the House of Representatives (HOR) and the Senate), Executive (President and his cabinet), and Judicial (Supreme Court and all federal courts below it). To pass a law, here is what must go down.
 * 1) The bill must get proposed. This bill in particular was proposed into the Senate.
 * 2) The bill must get passed in the house of Congress in which it was proposed (in this case, the Senate.) The house of Congress can make any revisions necessary, and when they are finished (passed by majority vote), the bill is sent to the other house of Congress (in this case, the HOR).
 * 3) The bill must get passed in the second house of Congress. This house may make revisions as necessary and pass their version of the bill. If this bill isn't the same, then it is sent back to the other house of Congress.
 * 4) The first house makes amendments, passes it back to the second house, and the two pass the bill back and forth until they have almost reached an agreement. The two houses form a joint committee, come up with a bill that both houses can agree on, and pass the bill.
 * 5) However, the bill isn't a law yet. The President must sign this bill into law. He can do this a couple of different ways:
 * 6) Sign the dang thing.
 * 7) Wait ten days. If Congress is still in session, the bill is officially a law. Yay!
 * 8) The President can also not agree to the law. He can do this a couple of different ways as well.
 * 9) Stamp the document with a veto stamp. Gotta say, that must be pretty fun.
 * 10) Wait ten days. If Congress isn't still in session, then the bill isn't a law and dies. This is called a pocket veto and the bill must be restarted in order to return to the President when Congress is in session again.
 * 11) If the President does pass it, the bill is a law. There we go.
 * 12) We still have one defense, and this is huge: our little idea of judicial review. You see, the Judicial branch can say that a law violates the US Constitution, but only after it is brought all the way to Supreme Court by a citizen. We, the citizens of the US, get the final say. If we don't like it, we don't have to have it.

But Congress won't pass the law in the first place. Like, at all. Why?
 * 1) The bill is a violation of US citizens' First Amendment rights- namely freedom of the press.
 * 2) Passing the bill would give us too much control over the world, something which we already have enough of. Countless terrorist attacks could be aimed upon our country and those who live within it- aliens or citizens alike would be in extreme danger.
 * 3) The world doesn't want the bill.

So with that I say "Goodbye, bill!" Stop worrying, y'all. It's going to be all right. :) We'll be okay.