Anti-piracy or anti-innovation, have you heard about SOPA?

The whole idea of the Web is the free exchange of knowledge as a catalyst for change yet, unbelievably, a new bill is now in the works that would throttle, intimidate and even criminalize this use of the Internet.

SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act H.R.3261) would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property. But the bill would also allow the over-zealous or just plain ignorant to trigger draconian measures against organizations using the Internet for the benefit of society -- groups protecting human rights organizations abroad, for example, or providing large-print books and recordings for the visually impaired.

Based merely on the suspicions of a Hollywood film exec or copyright attorney, the bill allows online advertising networks and payment facilitators (e.g., PayPal) to stop doing business with a guilty-until-proven-innocent website. It would prohibit search engines from linking to such sites. It would require Internet service providers to block access, and could lead to felony charges against the leadership of nonprofits, NGOs and other social benefit organizations.

The bill is backed by the entertainment and pharmaceutical industries, and opposed by tech companies, human rights activists, and libraries.

The House Judiciary Committee's mark-up of the bill is set for December 15.  We really recommend this post by Benetech Founder and CEO Jim Fruchterman.