Online Black Out: 5 Reasons You Should Support It

Important protest stands opposed to Internet censorship; White House opposed, too

The protest against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) will have its day on Wednesday, as a host of popular websites including Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress, Twitpic, Mozilla and Major League Gaming will black protesting the largely unpopular legislation, which opponents believe will change the openness of the web and create a precedent for wide censorship.

The Obama administration Monday issued its most pointed remarks at the proposed legislation.

“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

"Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage start-up businesses and innovative firms from growing.”

If President Obama isn't 100% sold on the Act, we need to take a closer look. Loop 21 has outlines the reason why you should be concerned about the censorship of the internet.

1. Uhh, What About Jobs?

The mere number of sites joining the black out -- Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing, Wordpress, Twitpic, Mozilla, The Cheezeburger Network, Major League Gaming and many more -- illustrate how important the legislation is and how such drastic changes could affect thousands of jobs. That’s certainly not in the interests of American business or businesses abroad.

“Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small,” the White House statement read.

2. Hollywood is Misguided (or Lazy)

The movie and music industries are trying to protect short-term profits with the legislation. But in reality, the movie industry pulled in a cool $87 billion, with a fraction of that number coming from digital and online subscriptions and downloads.

Whether Hollywood is being greedy is a matter of interpretation, but most experts say that their efforts are a bit misguided.