You may have noticed that the banner on the top of the blog has had a censorship bar over the top of it. If you've been to Wikipedia or reddit lately, you'll see that they've been blocked out today. This protest is organized by http://americancensorship.org/ a group that is protesting the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) bills in Congress you may have seen in the news. In short, they allow the US Government to shut down sites that have copyright infringing materials, and block access to oversea sites with copyright infringing material.
Now we're not usually an online freedom advocacy group (although we do like an internet where you're free to share your opinions and ideas and can express yourself.) But we have commented and shown our solidarity against bills that harm the interest of dancers, such as with s.978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act
If anyone's had troubles with Youtube regarding music on a video, you know how hard it is to resolve said issues. It will be a million times harder for dancers if SOPA passes. Think about how many dancers put up covers of your favorite song to get exposure and build their reputation, or even for artistic expression and your enjoyment. It's very likely that all such videos will be removed from Youtube. If Youtube is even allowed to stay active if this bill should pass.
Even more relevant to this blog, any links we (or one of our commenters) post not knowing that they have been deemed as infringing could block this site inside the US, meaning you guys wouldn't be able to read up on your favorite dancers. Luckily, SOPA has been shelved for the time being, but contact your Congress Representative or Senator to tell them to kill this bill for good.
Now we're not usually an online freedom advocacy group (although we do like an internet where you're free to share your opinions and ideas and can express yourself.) But we have commented and shown our solidarity against bills that harm the interest of dancers, such as with s.978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act
If anyone's had troubles with Youtube regarding music on a video, you know how hard it is to resolve said issues. It will be a million times harder for dancers if SOPA passes. Think about how many dancers put up covers of your favorite song to get exposure and build their reputation, or even for artistic expression and your enjoyment. It's very likely that all such videos will be removed from Youtube. If Youtube is even allowed to stay active if this bill should pass.
Even more relevant to this blog, any links we (or one of our commenters) post not knowing that they have been deemed as infringing could block this site inside the US, meaning you guys wouldn't be able to read up on your favorite dancers. Luckily, SOPA has been shelved for the time being, but contact your Congress Representative or Senator to tell them to kill this bill for good.
