Boycott SOPA (by avoiding companies that support it)

I know a lot of people who read this blog don’t know what SOPA is or why NOSVC would want you to take a second to think about boycotting it. Let’s hit some background and then some simple ways to avoid supporting a potential law that could be used to limit speech and hurt small companies.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011. The bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Now before the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act. [SOURCE]

So what will it do?

The government and corporations will be given expanded powers to block sites.
They can sue search engines to have links to sites removed.
They can cut off funds to websites. They can effectively remove any monetary support to a site. [SOURCE]

Basically speaking it could hurt small sites, bloggers and anyone that doesn’t have the resources to prevent the competition from being seen. Censorship by those that have the resources to make it happen.

What can you do? Stay informed – here is a good place to start and here is another one. Vote in November but vote with your wallet between now and then using this Android App (Or search Android Market for “Boycott SOPA”). Share what you know and speak out.

UPDATE: Another good SOPA/PIPA article - this one is from WordPress.