Why Canadians Should Participate in the SOPA/PIPA Protest

politics, this can't end well

Even if you’re not in Canada or in the US, this is a good read to understand the dangers of the SOPA/PIPA bills.

The bill grants the U.S. “in rem” jurisdiction over any website that does not have a domestic jurisdictional connection. For those sites, the U.S. grants jurisdiction over the property of the site and opens the door to court orders requiring Internet providers to block the site and Internet search engines to stop linking to it. 

Should a Canadian website owner wish to challenge the court order, U.S. law asserts itself in another way, since in order for an owner to file a challenge (described as a “counter notification”), the owner must first consent to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts.

You can replace “Canadian” by any other country. In short, SOPA will instantly grant the US worldwide censorship powers, in a way that leaves much to be desired in terms of due process.

Seriously, this is important.

Michael Geist – Why Canadians Should Participate in the SOPA/PIPA Protest.

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