Campus Comments for Jan. 26, 2012

"Sopa is total bull. Just for the simple fact that it violates freedom of speech. I even signed a petition for "Stop Sopa"

"I think its [SOPA] is a good idea, there is just so much online piracy that its taking over the cyber world, so it is good the government has a bit more control over the internet."

"To allow SOPA to grant them that power is something to think about. I don't know where I stand on that. Online Piracy is getting out of hand but then again I don't know if that is too much power for our authorities, so I'm not sure where I stand on that."

"I find the awareness of SOPA to be great because it's honestly starting to spark some minds, in my opinion. I'm definitely behind sites like Wikipedia and Google supporting petitions to be signed and for the act to be stopped. Though I am conscious on whether or not all this internet coverage is merely a distraction from something more important in the times ahead."

"[SOPA] sort of suppresses our freedoms, I mean, I know we have the copyright laws but what is youtube doing wrong to anyone? We should have to right to post whatever we want on Facebook, for example."

"I think they should go back and rethink the act. Like, I think it's a good idea on the surface, but its just too much as is right now, SOPA needs some revisions."

"I don't know much about it but I saw everyone on Facebook with the pictures that said "Stop SOPA" and I thought it was kind of stupid, but then I saw Wikipedia and they shut down their website for a day to show people how it would be if the act passed, or something like that. If it's going to shut down websites and Facebook I'm not behind it."

"It should really help cut down on all the piracy. I buy all my music so I find it kind of unfair when other people steal it. Hopefully SOPA can help give musicians credit for their work"

" If they take away the internet we really won't have freedom of speech. As of American I think the whole thing is bullshit and is unpatriotic, honestly."

"I haven't met anyone who supports that whole internet censorship act. I think if you learn about it, everyone can come together and will want to fight back against it. It really Is just letting the government have too much control over our personal lives."

"I think SOPA is ridiculous. I think that the entertainment industry, in particular, has a business model that is dying and their trying to hold on to it but the reality is that we don't live in the same world anymore. The same world that made them very rich has changed, and theyre having a hard time accepting that, and as a result

"Sopa is kind of useless because theyre trying to outlaw something that is already outlawed. Like, piracy is illegal, but now they're trying to make it more illegal? Plus they're adding on censorship, but the thing is that the internet is basically just full of personal ideas and thoughts making it a direct violation of our first amendment rights."

"I don't know much about it but one of my teachers in of my classes said that it would never go through, even if the president 100% backed it, the Supreme Court would probably put it to a halt."

"I'm just really curious about how far this would go as far as who gets what powers. Like how much effect will this have on the internet and then the everyday people?"

"I think SOPA is stupid, even if the act is passed people are going to find a way around it, its like what they say "laws are meant to be broken.""

" The government should have next to no control over the content over the internet. Yes people do pirate media but if it wasn't for things like Napster opening the gate for a new way of listening to music then we would probably never have an iTunes. Piracy is good competition for companies, when will people realize that paying as much as we did for CDs thankfully ended because of online downloading."

" The internet is like our most important tool for self-expression and it's already flooded with all these advertisements, losing this are sort of like losing our last means to become individual. So I really encouraged all my friends to take a stand against it on Facebook."

"I mean, I don't see what the big deal is. Everything that we Americans have has the ability to be censored in moderation. It's like the whole concept of the social contract: we give up certain rights to be protected, ya know. It's not fair if I make a movie and people go and download it for free.  Everything that we create has the right to be censored by the government so we can enjoy the luxuries of our country. People are just hopping on the bandwagon."

"Yeah I think its bad but I don't think that's actually going to happen or anything though. I don't think they're gonna be able to actually pass the bill, too many people are already against it, I don't think we have anything to worry about, like, as citizens."