Since Internet came into existence, we’ve been free to do almost anything, you may start a blog, forum, website, social networking site, bookmarking website, share videos, movies, games etc. containing any content of your choice. But not any more, different bills such as SOPA, PIPA, ACTA have started to raise their heads up high. This article is about all such acts/bills whatever you call it, which would brief about its motives.

SOPA – Stop Online Piracy Act, is a bill that was recently filed in the US bill which acts towards fighting web activities. The Act focusses on intellectual copyrighted properties and the trafficking of counterfeit goods. Its an essential requirement for the ISP’s to store data for years so in future if the courts ask for particular information for investigative purposes the ISP’s are bound to provide it.

According to industry experts, the bill poses a threat to various areas such as online advertising networks and payment facilities from carrying out business with infringing websites,the search engines would not be linking to websites. The court would have the right to order the ISP to block the public access to certain websites. Streaming is another area that faces a threat if this bill would have been passed. Websites that include Flickr, Vimeo and possibly even YouTube could be shut down if the bill becomes law, because these servers share intellectual property: legally or not. Many websites from all across the globe protested this bill on the 18th January 2012 and went dark and tried to make the courts and governments aware that what would happen if the bill is passed.

There’s a similar bill in the U.S. Senate titled the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) that came alongside SOPA. Let take a look at what it was.

PIPA – PROTECT IP Act. is a law proposed in the US that describes the prevention of real online threats to economic creativity and theft of intellectual property. The act intends to offer the U.S. government tools that can help curb access to websites that are dedicated to counterfeit goods, specifically those that operate outside of the United States. This will cost the government a significant amount of money and could present a lot of enforcement problems.

This act was formerly introduced in the year 2010 and is a refurbished version of COICA (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act ). These bills ie. SOPA and PIPA haven’t been accepted yet, though the House Judiciary Committee is still trying to find a solution that focuses on online piracy.

This was about the US, in the meanwhile another news hit the Industry that spoke about an agreement termed as ACTA – Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a multi-national agreement for establishing international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement. Its purpose is to create a common international legal framework that focusses on counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringement on the Internet, and would create a new governing body outside existing forums, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, or the United Nations.

Various nations such as Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, signed this agreement on 1 October 2011. In January 2012, the European Union and 22 of its member states signed as well, bringing the total number of signatories to 31. After ratification by 6 states, the convention will come into force.

Even this act has been opposed as it is supposed to pose adverse effects on fundamental civil and digital rights which also includes freedom of expression and communication privacy.