There has been and still is a lot of buzz on the internet lately about a couple of bills making their way up to the United States Congress. The first of those bills is SOPA, which stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act of 2011. The person behind the idea of SOPA is Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas. Namely, the corporations who support the bill are the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Podcast Episode 2: SOPA will Change How you Do Things

Now, let's get it straight. If you live in a country other than the U.S., the American government isn't all as perfect as you may think it is. It's been corrupt for the longest time in that the government runs on money. The "people" who are trying to pass on these bills are corporations. We all know that corporations can influence a decision to an extent because they have money. The problem is that there are morons who don't realize that they are trying to govern the internet when they have probably never used the internet enough.

The main purpose of SOPA is to protect American content creators from piracy by targeting foreign websites who put American businesses at an inconvenience. The way SOPA works is that when a court order is granted, it will be carried out on the infringing website to make it, simply put, disappear.

Protesters of the bill argue that because the way that the bill is now written, it will alter the principle of freedom. Many of the websites that you visit often are most likely protesters of SOPA, and just to name a few: Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Twitch.tv, and many other websites oppose the bill. Even the White House has announced that  if the bill ever reached President Obama's desk, then he will veto it.

How SOPA can Change the Way you Use the Internet

There's no denying it: It's going to change the way you use the internet. This bill, if it does ever happen to pass, is going to allow those swindler corporations to destroy the internet when they see something they dislike. You just don't destroy the internet just because it doesn't fit your business standard.

One example of what could happen is at home. It's here at Drift Apex. If our website happened to get taken down because of SOPA, then it will injure the passions and ideals of our community. It's hard to let go of something you're dedicated to. If the Congress is going to interfere with that, then they are morons.

Pirates are pirates. They don't care about the law. Those people in the Congress believe that just because one person pirates a single file, then they are losing money. That is the problem. Think about it. Most people who download content illegally are not going to even buy the product they are pirating in the first place. What the Congress needs to do to defeat the pirates is give a better service than the pirates.

The language used in the bill is so vague that almost anything could be taken for copyright infringement. An example of that would be Wikipedia. All that it takes is a single link on a page to something that Viacom thinks they own for a website to be taken down without proper due process.

One of the largest podcast networks on the internet has seen how dishonest the Universal Music Group is. In one of their videos, they used a clip of the Megaupload song for reporting and commentary purposes, which falls completely under the realm of fair use. Their video was removed unjustly by the UMG in that they don't have the rights to the Megaupload song. They just take down whatever video they think harms their business.

It's Time to Do Something about It

Listen to the people who have the right perspective. It's time to not just sign an online petition, but to go do something about it with bigger actions. Many websites are "blacking out" on the 18th of January to show what the internet would be like if we did not have access to certain websites that we all enjoy. It's better to focus on things we can actually change to help everyone. It seems like the best choice right now is to keep piracy the way it is.

There is another bill that is closely related to SOPA. It's called the PROTECT IP act, or PIPA. It denotes the Prevention of Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011. If these bills were to ever be passed, and they are very close to passing, Congress would be taking away the fundamental doors for creating jobs and growth not just from people who pirate, but from normal internet users as well. Internet censorship is not a good thing. The U.S. is already suffering in many ways. Please, don't make it worse.

It's time to stop being ignorant. These bills are not just going to lower the number of pirates. It's going to threaten due process, free speech, and is just simply, a bad, bad bill. Keeping things in order is usually a good thing, but too much control is harmful.

Drift Apex is joining the group of people who are against SOPA. If you're still pondering how to side on these matters, then just know that you can help make a difference if you believe in the following: The internet is supposed to be a wide network of limitless knowledge, a place to express yourself, and create.

Please, communicate with your congressperson, head on over to AmericanCensorship.org, share this article on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and so on to help spread the message that SOPA and other bills like it are just plain evil.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is a event that allows many high school students to come together to build robots and to compete to complete a specific task. The Drift Apex crew had taken a rare chance to interview Kevin Ross, a regional manager for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), and sit down with one of the groups that had partaken in the competition, Team 2930.

The audio recording of the interview with Kevin Ross allowed the Drift Apex crew to start up a podcast on technology (and gaming, of course)! Listen to the first ever episode of our new podcast below:

Podcast Episode 1: Interview with Kevin Ross

FIRST Robotics Competition Overview

Kevin Ross at the FRC Seattle Regional 2011.

The Drift Apex videography crew dedicated their time to capture footage of under six hours throughout the three days spent there at the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Seattle Regional during March 17th-19th, 2011.

Volunteer cameraman, Andrew Kim, who helped us capture footage at the FRC while we were on the field interviewing others.

Eight, highly educational, clips were uploaded straight to the Drift Apex YouTube channel for all of those interested to find out what happened at the competition. Watch the clips below:

Read what Nikhil C., a member from Team 2930, who, in his own words provided a general overview of the FRC:

Let me tell you about a world of robots, companionship, sleepless nights, and gracious professionalism. That world exists in the hands of FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. An organization dedicated toward the inspiration and teamwork of children and teenagers everywhere in the world through the use of  repeated cooperation.

A member from Team 2930 holds up an award for gracious professionalism.

FIRST was founded in 1989 by already successful inventor, Dean Kamen. His dream was "to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." His dream has stayed alive for 20 years, and this year's competition at the FRC celebrated the times. Kamen has expanded his reach out in not just the United States of America, but in other countries like Isreal, Turkey, Japan, and much more as well.

I would like give a big, big thank you to all of our cameramen, photographers, presenters, and interviewees for making all of this possible. We hope to visit the next FIRST Robotics Competition in 2012.