There is a heated debate going on right now about the legality of the SOPA and PIPA acts. PIPA means ‘Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act’ and SOPA means ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’.

“The acts violate our first amendment rights because we are guaranteed freedom of speech and SOPA would limit that,” junior Michael Kan said.

The reason why there is so much press and heat around these acts is because the way that SOPA and PIPA are written would allow the government to shut down and censor other websites, not just the websites that allow users to illegally download and stop online piracy.

“The government should not be allowed to censor the internet and take away our freedom,” junior Lara Ksiazek said.

Popular websites such as Google, Wikipedia and Reddit made a stand against these acts by shutting down on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Google had a black box on its logo whilst Wikipedia shut down the entire website and Tumblr users could choose to black out their blogs. A rogue hacker group called Anonymous also helped take down pro-SOPA websites such as CBS in protest of the proposed bill and the takedown of megauploads.

“I believe that the government should be allowed to have control over the internet to some extent,” junior Randall Ramirez said, “so that companies can make money and not have to worry about people stealing merchandise.”

The SOPA Act was introduced by Texas Representative Lamar Smith on Oct. 26, 2011 so that law enforcement has more power in tracking down illegal use of copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. PIPA is a proposed law that gives the government more power over the internet and was proposed by Vermont senator, Patrick Leahy. PIPA is a rewrite of a proposed law, the CIOCA or ‘Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act’ which failed to pass in 2010.

“We have a right to express ourselves through the internet,” Ksiazek said.

The acts were put on hold due to the protests until the issues surrounding the bills are resolved. The main problem surrounding these bills is the power it gives the government to shut down websites that violate the terms stated. Many believe that these bills would allow the government to monitor the internet the same way China and Iran monitors theirs. Allowing the government to have that much power violates every American citizen’s first amendment rights which states that every citizen is allowed freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

“The issue of online piracy can affect the internet by allowing people to download or share items for free,” Ramirez said. “Entertainment, computer software and publishing companies are frustrated that people can attain their merchandise for free through online piracy.”

The issue of online piracy has been an increasing problem in the last few years and many agree that there needs to be something done about it but people are unsure that the SOPA and PIPA Acts are the way to go.

“These acts are extremely unfair because it allows the government to police the internet,” Kan said.