The Internet has exploded today in protest of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). Google is expected to run an anti-SOPA banner on their site. Wikipedia, meanwhile, is completely down. The only Wikipedia page you can actually read right now is about SOPA (but don't try clicking on any links, you'll be re-directed to the same "Wikipedia is closed for business" page). Meanwhile, all the big media outlets are focusing their attention on just how bad this SOPA bill is, including sites like Time Magazine, which is actually owned by Time Warner, a supporter of the bill!
So what the hell is SOPA? Well, it's a bill that is intended to prevent internet piracy but will actually make it much easier for the big media companies to sue the pants off anyone they deem to be using pirated content. Here's a video run-down of what it means (or you can watch a much more simplistic – and funny – run-down at the Oatmeal).
While sites like the Oatmeal, Grooveshark, Wikipedia and Reddit are in the process of staging their own shut-downs, an Android app developer would like to help you fight against SOPA's supporters with your own wallet. Want to know which products you buy are created by the companies supporting the bill? There's an app for that...
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