This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Palo Alto Teens Blast Online Piracy Act

Area Teens from 3 local schools weigh in on SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.

There’s nothing unique about being dissatisfied with Congress these days. With the failure of the debt Super Committee, questions about potential insider trading, and intense partisanship surrounding every issue from medicare to pizza sauce, pretty much everyone in the country has some reason to send nasty vibes towards Capitol Hill. Here in Palo Alto, those hate-rays are blasting full strength due to one issue in particular: House Resolution 3261, more commonly known as SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.

The Bill is widely considered to be a boon for Hollywood and a battle-ax wound to the social web that calls Silicon Valley home. Though intended to target off-shore sites, it would potentially grant the government the authority to order ISPs to block websites that contain - or LINK TO unlawfully hosted copyrighted material. So for instance, if you’re suddenly struck by the urge to watch “Staying Alive” and your Google search points you to a site offering an illegal torrent, Google could be blocked for providing that link.

It could also allegedly punish sites that allow the link to be shared by users. So when you post that link on your Facebook wall saying “OMG THIS MOVIE IS TERRIBLE,” Facebook also becomes an offender for allowing it to be propagated.

Since I work with Palo Alto’s Finest (Teenagers, that is) at the , I thought I’d get their take on SOPA.

Paly junior Scotty Bara shared his views with me. “This would affect the way that I use the internet because I feel like the major sites that I visit (Google, Facebook, Yahoo) would be constantly shut down for copyrighted issues because so many people share links to websites that are illegally copywritten.” Scotty was a bit more optimistic on the effect of SOPA on school work, saying “I dont think it would have a large effect since most of my use of the internet for school does not have to do with what the government would shut down.”

Suzie Quackenbush, a senior at Castilleja, saw that part differently. “If the bill passes, it will definitely change the way everyone uses the Internet. In school, for example, we sometimes view material that may be copyrighted. However, when we're analyzing it, we only focus on the material itself, not it's source (Youtube, Google, etc.)."

Mark Gorelik, a junior at Gunn, said SOPA could affect his family. “It will create a censored internet. The bill can shut down any site that the media companies feel isn’t doing its share. This ranges from YouTube to a start-up such as my dad’s.”

While the Bill is expected to have the support it needs to pass, there is a lot of opposition in Congress. Rep. Anna Eshoo and Rep. Zoe Lofgren signed a letter to the Judiciary Committee with 10 other Congressman saying among other things, "At a time of continued economic uncertainty, this legislation will result in fewer new businesses, fewer new investments, and fewer new jobs.”

What are your thoughts on SOPA? Is it a step in the right direction for the fight against online piracy, or is it, as Mark Gorelik says “the Satan of Congress Bills”?

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?