SOPA and Let's Play Videos

So last week has been a panic attack for me as a new Let's Player. If you haven't been keeping up with things with the Internet, Congress was about to pass a new legislative law called SOPA that would have stopped Internet piracy. Unfortunately, passing that (though it would have stopped piracy of copyrighted material) would have made it impossible for people to post videos and blog pieces if they were using said copyrighted material. To completely stop the flow of information from being posted is bad news--- it means no more viral videos, no more opinions, and a strict repeal of every Let's Play, homemade dance video, or even a spoof of a certain music video. Basically, there would be no free sharing of information.

That being said, I was genuinely afraid that I wouldn't be able to make anymore Let's Play videos if it was passed. Therefore, I made sure to sign the Google petition to ensure that I wouldn't lose my chance to do what I've dreamed about for a year. The next day, it became a thing of the past--- support of the bill left quickly as discontent from the majority visibly showed.

Yet I'm still peeved that this would happen. The Internet is a place of information and interaction; if you take away the freedom of posting information that you want to share with the world, then how will we ever get to know the world around us. I would definitely see a drop in the sales of certain businesses, like the video game business and movies. I only say movies, though, because it's usually on Youtube that I find out when a movie I want to see is coming out.

In any case, I'm just glad that citizens know how to rally when something important to them is threatened. It's what has kept us from losing certain rights that are important to our survival in this country, and man, the Internet is all we have to keep the majority of us sane. Even though that sounds problematic, I like that we don't have "Manifest Destiny" attitudes about the world because of the Internet (at least, for the majority of us). Maybe it's because the Internet is the world we choose to live in more than the present, and that perhaps we're realizing that this entire world needs to stay as is naturally while we expand the informational network. Of course, Earth staying the way it is may be a stretch of an argument, but I want to believe that the Internet has somewhat made us all realize at one point that this world is much bigger and more precious than we have realized before it to be.