My Stance on SOPA/PIPA -- I oppose

I am against the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. I have long held views favoring a less regulated Internet (as noted here) because I feel like the Internet is a very unique invention that has already transformed all of our lives and will continue to only do so in the future. To regulate this developing infrastructure with 20th century paradigms will be detrimental for our society in more ways than one. Additionally, the Constitution provides for Congress with the authority to create a copyright law to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. However, if the copyright law is divorced from this basic premise, on the effect regulations have on promoting innovation, the law becomes unconstitutional. That is why in my opinion every copyright case should be looked at with a healthy dose of fair use. SOPA/PIPA seem to look at copyrighted content only from the perspective of the established, powerful content police, seeking to fix piracy with an overly broad measure that chills precisely what the Internet has done a marvelous job of promoting: fair use. There are less troubling means of stopping pirated content than by these proposed bills. I have already made my thoughts known to my Congress representative and if you similarly think that SOPA/PIPA is not the best approach, I urge you to do the same. There is a really cool website that allows you to easily find out who and how you can contact: http://americancensorship.org