Political Philosophy and Government Essay

Name SOPA: The Unconstitutional Law Teacher Class/Period Date SOPA is a law that is trying to be passed by the United States of America. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. While this may seem like a good thing, there are many reasons it is a bad thing. It is extremely vague, it can kill the internet, and the government can take advantage of this law. One thing about SOPA is it is extremely vague. The law is very vague about what the government can and cannot do. The government can enforce laws that are unreasonable with this act. They can also shut down any website completely. With this act live, the government includes a private right of action with little control over abuse. The government can abuse the power they gain through this act. The government can literally take down any website with links on it with this act live. The government will also be able to censor the internet to their liking. This would resemble the media in China or Syria. The internet would never be the same. Allowing SOPA to be passed would give the government the power to do all of these things. Another thing is many websites would be shut down. Many websites would be wiped out due to SOPA. Many websites protested SOPA due to this. Most of the most famous websites would be shut down. YouTube, Wikipedia, and many more websites have â€Å"copyrighted material. † User created things would be taken down. The internet would also be killed. Most things on Google would be wiped out. Over 90% of the internet is considered a violation to SOPA’s rules. Passing SOPA would completely kill the internet. Passing SOPA would give the government lots of power. Passing SOPA would give the government more power than before! Giving the government more power could result in abuse of power. That’s what happens in communist countries! Passing SOPA would take away some of our rights! The government would be allowed to search our belongings for â€Å"copyrighted material. † The law states that the government cannot commit unreasonable search and seizure. Giving the government more power can result in them taking too much power into their own hands. The more we give, the more they take. Too much power is never good. Passing this law would give the government too much power. While most of SOPA is bad, there are some â€Å"good† things about it. First off, people say it’s good because online piracy is another form of stealing, but while it may be similar to stealing, somebody had to purchase the item so others could use it. Some people also state it is a good act because you aren’t supporting the artist or creator of the item, but in reality, online piracy is by definition, sharing. While stopping online piracy may sound good, SOPA has many bad sides to it. SOPA must be stopped!