The success of Stop SOPA
Over the past few weeks those providing internet marketing services of any kind have been shocked by the vast amount of support the Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) have received in Congress. These two pieces of controversial legislation were submitted before the United States Senate and House of Congress respectively, with the intention of preventing citizens from downloading U.S. intellectual property via websites hosted overseas. Many have labeled it an attempt to regulate the world wide web.
However, those working within the industry saw it as unjust and poorly written. They were fearful that the legislation was a slippery slope that would put our online security at risk and lead to government censorship of the web. With these thoughts in mind, the Stop SOPA campaign came to fruition.
Recently the Stop SOPA campaign has been very successful. It got the support of major tech industry names like Reddit, Google and Wikipedia. In fact, just the other week, both Reddit and Wikipedia went off line, suspending their services, in a form of protest against the legislation. Others physically protested the offices of Senators and Congress members alike who supported the bills. As well many placed calls to their representatives and wrote letters on behalf of Stop SOPA.
Their campaign actions worked and both bills have been indefinitely withdrawn. Some have even called Stop SOPA “one of the most effective online marketing campaigns of all time.” It was well organized, had a clear message, was easy to understand and called on members to act.
