I recently gave a quick overview of SOPA and PIPA, the two bills in the House and Senate, respectively. The legislation can kill the internet as we know it by letting anyone bring down an entire website by claiming copyright infringement. Even worse, there is no due process. A website can be taken down with no recourse.

The consequences of SOPA/PIPA far outweigh any benefit. Actually, there is no benefit. The result will only be unintended consequences that will make the problems both bills seek to remedy even worse.

Here’s a rundown of the unintended consequences:

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Also See: 3 Unintended Consequences of SOPA/PIPA

The current SOPA/PIPA legislation slithering through Congress is probably one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation we’ve seen in recent history. Both bills threaten free speech in America and can ruin the internet as we know it.

SOPA/PIPA will also be job killers. A lot of the commerce, innovation and business revolves around the internet. If SOPA/PIPA is passed, it will become all but impossible for this growth to continue. In fact, many prominent venture capitalists have said they will stop investing in online start-ups if this legislation passes.

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Wikileaks has been making major waves in several spheres of life: Online, world governments, law enforcement, activists and everyday citizens.

The controversy centers around the online whistleblower’s website that recently published thousands of diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world. Before that, Wikileaks published the Afghan War Diary and Iraq War Logs – each containing classified government and military documents.

I’m a staunch supporter of an open and free press that can operate without threats/retribution from any government. And with the internet, it is even more important for the press to be able to operate freely. Therefore, I support Wikileaks and their efforts.

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The annual Teen Lit Fest in Humble, TX will have 5 less authors this year. According to Publishers Weekly, author Ellen Hopkins had her invitation revoked after a librarian and a few parents protested her books to the superintendent and school board:

In the post, entitled

While this post doesn’t directly deal with literature, writing, publishing or ebooks, I feel that it needs to be addressed. I’ve been a very strong supporter of free speech – it’s the cornerstone of an open and enlightened society. However, with free speech also comes responsibility. That can be a thin line to balance. But in the following case, the line has been crossed.

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I’m a little late covering Banned Books Week, but I figure better late than never. This is actually a very important event because it gives attention to the freedom to read what one chooses and not giving into demands by groups or individuals to restrict access to a books based on what they find as offensive content.

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The debacle over Amazon and their decision to remotely remove several George Orwell titles from their Kindle device, from customers who had paid for the books, has sparked a pretty fierce debate online. I’m actually a little surprised at the number of people who have come to Amazon’s defense and even applauded Jeff Bezo’s generic apology.

A lot of people, it seems, are getting hung up on the idea that the ebooks in question were illegally uploaded to Amazon’s system, and therefore, Amazon had every right to delete them from the Kindles and issue a refund. But I think there’s a deeper problem, and a danger lurking in the shadows if something isn’t done.

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Whenever a case of censorship, or attempted censorship of literature appears in the news, I try to write a post about it here. Sadly enough, I don’t have to wait long. In the most recent case I read about concerns a school district in my own backyard – the Antioch Community High School made headlines in Publishers Weekly after a group of parents tried to strike a young adult Sherman Alexie title off the required summer reading list for incoming freshman.

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I’m not afraid to admit when I might be wrong. Like many others, there are times when I jump to conclusions based on sketchy information. This is one of those times. I wrote this post about the Dubai Literary Festival allegedly censoring a certain book from the festival, and outright banning it from Dubai.

In case you missed it, here’s what happened according to this Guardian article:

The row began brewing on Monday, when newspaper reports emerged of a "ban" imposed by the festival on The Gulf Between Us, a novel by Bedell, because one of its characters, a sheikh in a fictional Gulf state, was gay. Bedell had been told by the festival organisers that her book was unsuitable for inclusion because they "[did] not want our festival remembered for the launch of a controversial book", she told reporters. Meanwhile, her publishers, Penguin, had been told by booksellers in UAE that the novel itself had been censored by the authorities.

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This story caught my attention for two reasons: First, it’s in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. I have been to Dubai and it’s a beautiful, vibrant city with very nice, hospitable people. Dubai is also very much a "literary" city where poetry is very popular (much more so than here in the US).

The second reason why this story caught my attention is because it deals with censorship. I take a hard, unyielding stand on any form of literary censorship because I firmly believe that literature reveals fundamental truths about the human condition – and those truths cannot be suppressed.

The book A Gulf Between Us by Geraldine Bedell was rejected from the Dubai Literary Festival that is coming up next week. Bedell wrote this piece in the Guardian, obviously upset by her book’s exclusion from the festival. She first describes how her book is not offensive to the Arab culture and might even shed some positive light in that region:

The book certainly isn’t a PR handout for the region, but I suspect (even hope) that makes the overall warmth towards it that much more telling. The book is an affectionate portrait, and I rather expected readers to be surprised that there could be so much to like.

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