I am bothered.

On the eve of January 18, the day designated by the powers that be as the day to protest SOPA, I tried to install the wordpress plug in that would have allowed me to black out this blog in solidarity with the cause. Sadly though, much to my dismay and as far as my tech know-how will allow me, I am unable to do so. Boo.

For the record though and so there is no misunderstanding on the subject, I am against SOPA.

I think that the day SOPA was introduced was a sad day not just for the Internet but for humanity. Despite the fact that the premise of preventing online piracy is one that is sound and valid, I disagree with the way our elected officials intend to tackle the problem.

As my issue with the plug in illustrates, my technical know-how though above average is not outstanding. Still, I spend my days swimming in a sea of code and social media and having had the privilege of growing up in a time when there was an Internet to speak of and information sharing is the norm, I cannot imagine a world where censorship would exist to protect the interests of a few. That the law would allow that my rights be taken away without due process for, again, the interests of a few. I do have a right to be informed in the same measure that it is my right to share information.

Piracy is a problem. This is true. It is not true, however, that people with far less tech know-how than me should be making decisions that up until a few days ago threatened to destroy the basic architecture of the Internet, the medium I am using to speak to you right now.

As someone who has spent most of her life sharing information on the Internet, it is my responsibility to pick a side. If you haven’t, it’s time you did. If you don’t know what’s at stake, it’s time you found out.

Our elected officials are elected by the people for the people. And I think that there are other ways to combat privacy and that for the time being, we the people need to stand united on this and protect our freedom to be informed.