American Censorship Day

November 16th is American Censorship Day. It's a day of protest and in opposition to to H.R. 3261, the "Stop Online Piracy Act."

At Steadfast Networks we oppose Internet piracy in any form. We comply with any legitimate takedown requests that we receive and do not tolerate our network being used for illegal purposes. We're sure the spirit of H.R. 3261 is true and if its language and proposals were in line with that we would stand firm behind it.

However that's not the reality of the bill. In reality this bill can and will be used to cripple free speech on the Internet through granting totalitarian rule to governmental agencies giving them the unprecedented ability to remove and restrict access to free speech without any need for proof that a law is being broken.

At present if a client has content on their website that another organization feels infringes on their intellectual property there is a process that the organization follows which results in the disputed content either being removed, or not removed depending on the evidence presented. That much isn't slated to change, however what H.R. 3261 introduces is the ability for government agencies to go so far as to not only force that client's web host to take the site down, but also to prevent that site's owners from conducting business - actually removing their ability to process credit cards and advertising can be cut off.

In essence without any proof whatsoever, a small business can be completely and totally destroyed if there is a dispute over what it features on its website.

Please see this video to see how this legislation can cripple free speech and the Internet.

Steadfast Networks cannot and will not stay quiet in the face of legislation that stands in stark contrast to its fundamental and core belief that free speech is what makes our nation great.

We ask you to stand with us against H.R. 3261 and keep free speech alive on the Internet. For more information, please visit http://americancensorship.org/ and unite with Steadfast Networks and thousands of other organizations to oppose this legislation and those that would impose censorship on our unalienable rights granted by the Constitution.