As millions of internet users have already discovered, today is “Internet Blackout Day,” a day in which many major websites have literally gone black in protest of these two acts currently facing congress. What are SOPA and PIPA? The two are bills aimed to stop online piracy by making it illegal to link to copyrighted content. Because sharing links is the foundation of many popular social media websites, many internet users believe that the tactics of SOPA and PIPA are much too far-reaching and could shut down popular sites such as Facebook, Reddit, and more. This is due to the fact that the bills claim that these sites are responsible for any content posted under their domains, even if it is the users of the sites who are posting the copyrighted links.

How do SOPA and PIPA affect small businesses? For one, they could cut deeply into the online marketing strategies used by many businesses, which include utilizing sites such as Reddit, Digg, and other social bookmarking sites. Also, for small businesses who run a blog or other interactive media on their website, any users who leave a comment deemed to be a copyright infringement could have their website blacklisted. Most small businesses would not be able to handle the burden of policing the content on their own websites to the degrees that SOPA and PIPA demand.

Any business who uses the website as part of their marketing strategy should be worried about SOPA and PIPA passing. Get in touch with your representative today to help block the passing of these two bills.