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The Internet is one of the United States' most robust and growing industries.

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It enables free and open communication among billions,

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and it's been the backbone for protests around the world.

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But a new bill proposes to give the power to censor the Internet

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to the entertainment industry.

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It's called PROTECT IP, and here's how it works.

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Private corporations want the ability to shut down unauthorized sites

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where people download movies, TV shows, and music.

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Since most of these sites are outside US jurisdiction,

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PROTECT IP uses a couple different tactics within American borders.

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Firstly, it gives the government the power to make

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US Internet providers block access to infringing domain names.

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They can also sue US-based search engines,

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directories, or even blogs and forums,

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to have links to these sites removed.

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Secondly, PROTECT IP gives corporations and

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the government the ability to cut off funds to

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infringing websites by having US-based advertisers

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and payment services cancel those accounts.

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In a nutshell, that's what PROTECT IP will try to do.

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But in all likelihood, it'll do something else altogether.

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For starters, it won't stop downloaders.

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You'll still be able to access a blocked site

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just by entering its IP address instead of its name.

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What PROTECT IP will do is cripple new startups

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because it also lets companies sue any site

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they feel isn't doing their filtering well enough.

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These lawsuits could easily bankrupt new search engines

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and social media sites.

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And PROTECT IP's wording is ambiguous enough

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that important social media sites could become

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targets.

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Lots of trailblazing websites could look like

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piracy heavens to the wrong judge.

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Tumblr, SoundCloud, an early YouTube,

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wherever people express themselves, make art,

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broadcast news or organize protests,

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there's plenty of TV footage, movie clips,

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and copyrighted music mixed in.

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And even if you trust the US government

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not to abuse their new power to censor the Net,

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what about the countries that follow in our path

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and pass similar laws?

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People around the world will have very different

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Internets, and unscrupulous governments will have

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powerful tools to hinder free expression.

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But perhaps most dangerously, PROTECT IP will

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meddle with the inner workings of the Net.

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Experts believe by fiddling with the web's registry

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of domain names, the result will be less security,

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and less stability.

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In short, PROTECT IP won't stop piracy, but it will

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introduce vast potential for censorship and abuse,

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while making the web less safe and less reliable.

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This is the Internet we're talking about!

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It's a vital and vibrant medium.

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And our government is tampering with its

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basic structure, so people will maybe buy more

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Hollywood movies.

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But Hollywood movies don't get grassroots candidates

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elected. They don't overthrow corrupt regimes,

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and the entire entertainment industry doesn't even

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contribute that much to our economy.

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The Internet does all these, and more.

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Corporations already have tools to fight piracy.

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They have the power to take down specific content,

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to sue peer-to-peer software companies out of existence,

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and to sue journalists just for talking about how to

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copy a DVD.

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They have a history of stretching and abusing

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their powers. They tried to take a baby video

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off YouTube, just for the music playing in

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the background. They've used legal penalties

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written for large-scale commercial piracy

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to go after families and children.

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They even sued to ban the VCR and the first

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MP3 players.

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So the question is, "How far will they take all this?"

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The answer at this point, is obvious.

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As far as we'll let them.