Home of the brave, land of the free. For as many years as it's been a nation, America has prided itself in making sure these words aren't just a title, but a reality. Back in the day, the fervent patriots denounced their homeland and fought tooth and nail against England to create their own nation that would give them freedom and respect the inalienable rights they believed humans should have. For the most part, we've kept this up. Every now and again, there are issues that are declared unconstitualinal, and challenged in the court system. Most recently, that issue is the SOPA and PIPA. These acts are the government's way of trying to get a handle on something we all waste to much time on daily- the Internet.

    Now, this has caused quite the ruckus all throughout the country. The initial goal of both acts is similar and noble- to stop online piracy (which, consequently is what SOPA itself stands for). Many "offshore" companies who operate websites from locations outside the US in order to not be under the stipulations placed upon US internet users have been sneaking past guidelines and creating sites with illegal copyrighted material. Of course, organizations whose material is being stolen are taking this none too kindly, so they tried to enlist the government for help. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do against the actual contenders in the fight, so they decided to go after websites that were affiliated with them.

    This is where the big stir was caused. The websites the government was trying to monitor were search engines and advertisement sites may have been connected to the initial sites, but often have other purposes. To make matters worse, the act is worded so that "any site enabling or associated with dedication to theft of US property" can be taken down. This is where the "hostile takeover" that many fear comes in. According to a video by Khan Academy, the bills were taking a "Shoot first, think later" approach to how to deal with websites that may be involved. This is what really stirs up problems for those of us surfing the web at home, because it could potentially include all sites where users are allowed to upload content. There goes the countless hours of sitting on Youtube and mindlessly scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed. While it's a blessing in disguise for procrastinators, it's something that has got the general population outraged.

    "I'm totally against SOPA and PIPA," said our media specialist Faye Friesen. The ALA (American Library Association) sides with her in this opinion.

    "At first, it seems like a good idea: stop online piracy. The problem becomes that any website with any link to a suspect website can be taken down immediately. This would effectively take down Google, because as a search engine it could return results with a suspect website included," said Friesen.

    This would be detrimental to a great majority of know-it-alls and students everywhere. A life before Google is just a farfetched idea to most of our generation, and the thought of that existence is enough to make college bound students shudder.

    "They [the acts] are just so wide-sweeping that they defy common sense," Friesen said.