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Did you notice how Google has a black bar over its logo today?  Why the heck can’t you access Wikipedia this morning?  Tumblr? Reddit?? What is going on here??

Well, all of these sites are down today to protest SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Now, I’m not going to tell you that SOPA is the end of the world, nor am I here to tell you that SOPA should be passed.  Rather, I just want to let you know what it is and why you should know about it.

I will tell you this – SOPA supporters feel that it is necessary to protect copyrighted information on the Internet, while those against SOPA feel that it is hindering our freedom of information and even go so far to say that it goes against the principles of freedom that our great country was built upon.

Anyway, here are the details.

SOPA and its sister, PIPA (the Protect IP Act), are a pair of anti-piracy bills that are shooting to put an end to sites that host pirated content – primarily overseas sites where you can download “torrent” files.

Torrent files are pockets of downloadable content that many users seek in order to get movies, music, TV shows and other files illegally.

Since these sites are across the pond from the good ol’ United States, SOPA isn’t trying to target these sites head on.  Instead, SOPA wants to cut the lifeline to these sites by forcing search engines, advertising networks, and other providers to withhold their services.

More or less, Google would no longer fetch a result with a blocked site for you.

Furthermore, you could just about kiss YouTube goodbye due to some vague language in the bill.  As it stands right now, if a YouTube user uploads content with copyrighted material, the copyright holders can send a “takedown notice” to YouTube under the DCMA (Digital Millennium Copyright ACT of 1998), which the user can file a counter-motion against saying the material isn’t copyrighted.

Things get fishy because a site could be under scrutiny by SOPA because if YouTube doesn’t take “deliberate actions to avoid confirming a high probability” against copyright infringement, then “YouTube would just go dark immediately,” according to one public policy director.

So, where does SOPA stand right now?

Well, it was expected to move quickly through the House of Representatives, but a massive protest from over 7,000 websites has put a damper on SOPA supporters.  This has caused SOPA to go under a massive rewrite that could take days or months.

Be on the lookout for more SOPA talk over the next few weeks.  It’s sure to be a hot topic.

Eric Mally writes for Quicken Loans and loves that it’s one of the most amazing places to work.  Check out the Quicken Loans YouTube page and learn more about what it’s like to work at QL.

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