District Fellows join SOPA protest

Woodcraft Folk's DFs have taken their website at www.spanthatworld.com offline today in protest against SOPA and PIPA, the two bills being discussed in the U.S. Congress today. These two pieces of legislation aim to protect the copyright of content on the Internet and stop piracy, but organisations including Wikipedia, Google and Wordpress believe they will damage the freedom and creativity of the Internet.

DF Josh Dodd says "I'm really glad DFs are adding their voice to the many protesting about this because it's an important issue - especially for young people. The Internet is the main way that DFs and young people as a whole communicate, create and develop themselves - it's free, fast and creative. But censorship like this will stifle creativity and could cripple the small, independent enterprises that are so inspiring for us."

Protesters are concerned that the U.S. government will be able to block websites both in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world on the basis of infringement of copyright laws, or on the basis that they have helped people circumvent this censorship, meaning that the social networks currently enabling people to unite, organise and protest could be disabled. 

Josh commented "I think the way to deal with piracy is not to restrict people's freedom on the Internet but to make content more accessible in the first place, with free demos and cheaper downloads -  so that people don't have to look for pirate copies."