When Facebook and Google are in agreement, it’s usually time to raise your eyebrows and ask ‘why?’. Well SOPA is one of those instances – it’s a bill in the US aimed at counteracting piracy and protecting intellectual property but sadly, in its current format it’s likely to do more harm than good.

SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act – a pioneering piece of legislation in the US, which if passed will have a massive impact on internet usage worldwide as other governments follow the US lead on tackling piracy.

However, as this video will explain, SOPA in it’s current form is likely to have a detrimental impact on many businesses:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

What can we do to stop this happening?

The internet is by no means the perfect realm and like much of society, it has it’s negatives and piracy is one of those but the SOPA approach to tackling piracy isn’t the best approach. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and the vast majority of online marketers and web developers are opposed to SOPA and related laws and so far their voice is being heard – at least to some extent!

So there is a drastic need for other online professionals – even part-timers, volunteers and other enthusiasts – to weigh into the debate and add their voice to the chorus of complaints about SOPA and make a difference. If this law is passed in the US, other countries will follow and as declared in the video, it’s a lot harder to change laws than it is to simply block or remove a web page.