I hope this doesn't violate any list rules here. I found this on another of my lists. Seems to be real. How many of our genealogy sites would this effect if passed? Message: 1 Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:50:36 -0600 From: Debbie Greenlee <daveg@airmail.net> Subject: [POLAND] Copyright Blacklist To: Polish Genius <polish_genius@yahoogroups.com>, Poland Roots <POLAND-ROOTS@rootsweb.com>, Bukowsko Triangle <bukowsko_triangle@yahoogroups.com>, Sanok Group <Sanok@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <4F1222DC.9050300@airmail.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed On Wednesday, January 18, 2012 many web sites will be black in protest to the upcoming government bill (Stop Online Piracy Act) which makes individual web sites responsible for copyright violations. This bill includes any site that has user-uploaded files including email list groups such as this one. Other valuable web sites which would be affected are Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Yahoo. Ebay and Amazon are protesting SOPA even though they are not particularly vulnerable. What will probably happen is that the large hosting sites will end up policing themselves but sloppily, rather than wait for the government to shut them down for only one (1) copyright violation. So, if a host, (Wikipedia) for instance, thinks there is a copyright violation, rather than checking it out (costly) they'll just remove the item. The blackout will last for 12 hours, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Some sites will just put up a banner allowing people to click through to the site. Other sites may not allow you to click through for the 12 hours. Many of the major sites are against the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA). The bill just doesn't cover music but it seems to be fueled by the music, movie, and graphic artist industry though it will affect written material as well and that's where the genealogy lists come in. I am sorry to say that a Texas Representative came up with SOPA. http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57329001-281/how-sopa-would-affect-you-faq/ For more information about SOPA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act Forbes article: http://tinyurl.com/6rjaztn Debbie