ABOUT THE BOOK The Stop Online Piracy Act was one of the most controversial pieces of legislation that Congress considered passing. It was introduced in the House by Representative Lamar Smith, a Republican representing the 21st District in Texas. Although the bill has officially died, it remains one of the most popular topics on Wikipedia. This is due in part to opponents of the bill claiming SOPA violated First Amendment rights, and the bills susceptibility to being interpreted broadly. SOPA sought stiff penalties, including jail time, for offenders who illegally downloaded copyrighted material. It also sought to authorize the complete shut-down of websites that contained copyrighted content. Big businesses got involved on both sides of the issue, and a grass roots effort emerged in strong opposition to it that culminated with websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit voluntarily going dark for one day to illustrate how far-reaching the bill was. Entertainment industry behemoths such as Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America heavily influenced this bill. Former Senator Chris Dodd currently heads the MPAA as the Chief Executive, and it his organization that helped write the bill. MEET THE AUTHOR Trina C. is an experienced writer and a member of the Hyperink Team, which works hard to bring you high-quality, engaging, fun content. Happy reading! EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK As SOPA became increasingly despised among technology industry experts, savvy users, and people who hate the idea of government poking its head into their private affairs, information leaked that corporate sponsors and members of Congress had been violating copyright laws by illegally downloading protected content. In December 2011, major SOPA sponsor, Sony was found to have several violators among its ranks. Technology website BGR, reported on December 14, that employees of Fox, Sony, and NBC Universal had used BitTorrent, a pirating website, to download copies of Conan the Barbarian, music from the Black Keys, and other protected music. These acts were discovered using a program called Torrent Freak, which can find out what each specific IP address is downloading. CHAPTER OUTLINEWikipedia+: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) + Introduction + Arguments Supporting SOPA + Arguments Against SOPA + Vint Cerf, Co-Founder of the Internet + ...and much more