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1 William Moll Ms. Caruso ENGL 1103 22 February 2012 The Internet as We Know it Today Every morning, most Americans seem to go through the same routine. People always wake up, take a shower, brush their teeth, and check their e-mail, and connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Now, what would you do if the luxury of the Internet were to be taken away from you? Not all Americans are aware that the Internet that you know and love today is not really the full Internet. There are many bills that limit Americans access to the Internet, whether it involves putting censorship on what you can see or tracking where you go and what you do, your time spent on the World Wide Web is not as free as Americans would want it to be. In addition, with the Congressional Proposal of SOPA and PIPA in 20111, and the recent protests that ensued due to them, Americans might lose even more of their freedom. The United States Government is attempting to control what is going on inside the border by passing laws that sound like a good idea; however, after an in depth look one will see that the government is slowly chipping away at our freedom, and not representing the American people to the best of their ability. The Internet would not exist without the invention of the computer. The personal computer was not even a thought because the first computers were the size of an average apartment, and the cost was very hefty. The United States military was the prime owner of computers in their early days. They were also the first to link computers together at a long distance, using their SAGE system. This created the first large-scale computer network. Higher
Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:38 PM Comment [1]: Although this sets up your paper, it offers no real content and positions the tone of your paper as conversational. You could just as easily begin with the next sentence.

Moll 2 learning institutions and large corporation started putting large sums of money into research for the development of the Internet. Researchers started to connect computers together, not with a single-wire connection, but over great length using the pre-established telecommunication system. (Internet History) The American people, however, did not see a commercialized Internet system until the late 1980s. At the start, and over the first few years, people all over the world started using the Internet for instant communication. The basic form of e-mail and instant messaging came about, people began posting blogs that anybody could read, and newspapers started posting articles and issues online. It was, for the most part, uncensored material available to anyone who had a computer and a phone line. Privacy acts were passed not because of the invention of the Internet, but much earlier because of faulty or undisclosed information being used in newspaper reports. The concept of the invasion of privacy has been traced to a law review written by Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren in 1890 in which it was proposed that the individual has a common-law right to be let aloneeven in a case in which media reporting is truthful. (Lipschultz 226) This was only an idea, until in 1960 William Prosser developed four separate types of lawsuits regarding invasion of privacy. He said it should be illegal to disclose private or embarrassing facts about somebody, use a persons name, picture, or persona for commercial purposes, intrude on ones solitude or seclusion (trespassing), or place somebody in a false light (also called libel defamation). (Lipschultz 227) The government would eventually enact all of the personal privacy concepts thought about, and they would one day extend their jurisdiction to the Internet as well. The mass globalization of the Internet brought about many issues concerning how, and how much, to protect personal privacy while surfing the web. The United States, being at the head of the Internet frontier, enacted multiple bills including the Electronic Communications
Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:41 PM Comment [2]: Consider if a history of the computer and the instigation of the internet is necessary. It does not seem to follow your first paragraph well, and it does not seem to relate to the next point. You may want to include the last part of the paragraph the part where you begin talking about the internet, but the computer information does not seem necessary.

Moll 3 Privacy Act, the Patriot Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. These bills are designed to make the American Internet system the safest in the world. The Bush Administration signed the most recent bill, the Patriot Act, into action on October 26, 2001. The bill states that the main goal is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) Bills are great because you can create new laws, but how would the government enforce such a broad-topic law? In November of 2001, less than a month after the passage of the Patriot Act, a program that would help monitor how Americans used their computers was leaked to the American public. The project was codenamed Magic Lantern, and was being run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The government used the power of the Internet to deploy their solution for controlling the threat of terrorism in America. They sent out millions of e-mails with Trojan Horses, a type of virus, attached to them. The virus would install automatically, without you knowing, and the government could now access not only information on your computer, but the virus is also what is called a keystroke logger. In other words, it records everything you do with exact times, and you will never know. From the second you turn on your computer you could be monitored by a team of specialist sitting in an FBI office across the country from you. Many people argued that this program broke federal law concerning the multiple personal privacy acts; however, "Like all technology projects or tools deployed by the FBI it would be used pursuant to the appropriate legal process." (Wired) This software was developed much earlier than November of 2001, and it was later learned that the project started in the spring of 2001. Nevertheless, nothing concerning Magic Lantern was confirmed until an FBI spokesman declared that the government was working in partnership with the FBI to develop spyware used to monitor computer usage on December 12, 2001.2 (Wired)
Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:43 PM Comment [3]: Change this to a more forceful statement. Eliminate the uncertainty that a question poses.

Moll 4 As many Americans would argue, the laws that government has passed, and the control that they place over their citizens, we do not live in an entirely free country by the literal meaning of the word. To be free means to not be bound, confined, or detained by any force. The American government never did anything that was unconstitutional, and all previously passed laws were upheld. That is, until the most recent Internet protection bills were proposed on Capitol Hill. On May 12, 20113, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy4 proposed a bill that would eventually lead to the largest Internet protest ever. The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act or PIPA was introduced to the 112th congress, and within two weeks, it was approved by the senate judiciary committee and floor discussion over the bill could begin. (GovTrack.us) The main fight PIPA is trying to win is against distribution or consumption of counterfeit goods, mainly copy written material. PIPA is not the first bill of this type to be proposed in the senate. In September of 2010, this same Senator proposed the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) to the senate. It never reached the floor, but was passed by the senate judiciary committee. PIPA is nothing but a revised copy of COICA with lesser punishments for the same copyright infringement actions. These bills have a good moral basis, however Senator Leahy and his cosponsors take it to an extreme that breaks American Constitutional rights.5 A similar bill was handed to the House Judiciary Committee not but five months later my Congressman Lamar Smith.6 His bill, entitled The Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA, is fighting against the same issues as PIPA. SOPA states that it wants to enforce fighting against having copy written and counterfeit goods or property on the Internet. SOPA has caused the largest uproar between the two bills because it targets websites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and
Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:47 PM Comment [5]: By? Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:46 PM Comment [4]: Excess wording.

Moll 5 YouTube for possible copyright enragement or invasion of public privacy.7 The bill says that search engines are breaking copyright law because they do not correctly cite where they found the search result. Facebook and YouTube are targeted for the same reasons. Twitter, on the other hand, is being accused because of features that it gives users access too. The argument is that when someone re-tweets something, they are not giving the proper credit to the first user with that tweet. This could become a never-ending chain of tweets that could start anywhere with any user. The concept of proposing the same bill in both the house and the senate is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Here is the basic logic behind it; if the Senate does not pass PIPA, there is still a chance that the House could pass SOPA, and visa versa. Then, once one of the bills is passed, it moves from the House to the Senate or Senate to the house to be voted on by the other group. It could be compared to the following scenario; your one group of friends wants to go see an action movie, while your other group of friends wants to see a different action movie. If you would rather see movie two, your friends who want to see movie one will agree and go see movie two. That is the general idea for proposing a bill in both the house and the senate. If one group denies, there is still hope for the other. On January 18, 20128, people all around the world helped to set a world record for having the largest Internet protest ever. Many high traffic sites blacked out their webpages for the entire day to show what the Internet would be like if SOPA and/or PIPA were passed through legislation. Because of what these sites did, SOPA and PIPA were fought by ten million petition signers, three million e-mails to congressmen and women, over one hundred thousand phone calls, over three million tweets about either SOPA or PIPA, multiple trending search terms on Google, and thousands of protesters outside offices all across America.9 This forced at least 13
Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:50 PM Comment [11]: Your reader should be able to understand the idea without this diversion. Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:48 PM Comment [7]: Work on closing your paragraphs, rather than just ending them. Many of your paragraphs show the last idea you had in that paragraph, but not a wrap- up of the ideas. Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:48 PM Comment [8]: Avoid clichs. Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:49 PM Comment [9]: Wordy. Work to say this in a stronger manner. Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:49 PM Comment [10]: vice Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:47 PM Comment [6]: Sp.

Moll 6 senators to back away from the bill in one day and five cosponsors dropped their support for the bill(s).10 (Fight for the Future) The very next day, the House postponed voting on the bill, which was due by January 24, 2012. Congressman Smith, SOPAs chief sponsor had this to say. I have heard from the critics, and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products. The [SOPA] Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, and financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect Americas intellectual property. (Smith)11 Congressman Smith shows his determination towards the fight against copyright infringement, and this statement shows that the hold put on the vote will not slow his committee down, and he will do his best to get his bill passed through legislation. SOPA and PIPA are only the latest in a long line of privacy acts and copyright laws; however, because of the Internet, they received massive amounts of publicity in one day. The effort that the protesting websites put into stopping SOPA and PIPA gave the bills awareness, and put the American public in an uproar. The bills fight very real problems in society, yet with the amount of disagreement, those who were elected to represent the American people would be doing an injustice to their citizens by passing a bill that has received this large amount of criticism.
Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:54 PM Comment [12]: Bill, You have a fairly comprehensive view of the internet privacy issues, and you seem to maintain your focus throughout. As you mentioned in your memo, though, one of the main things holding you back is the use of unnecessary language and wording. I commented on a few of these areas. Apply these comments to the rest of your paper as well. I would also suggest that as you revise, you work on giving your ideas more succinctly. Rather than just looking to see where your sentences are wordy, look to see where they might be informal, or where you might convey information in a better way. If you look for where to make your writing better, rather than just looking for where you feel your writing is inadequate, you will strengthen your entire paper, rather than just the parts that needed it the most. Endnotes: Although you use your endnotes to talk about your story, you seem to give only a cursory glance at the ideas. Use the endnotes to detail some of your ideas. Use the endnotes as brainstorming. Elaborate upon some of them and even add endnotes so you can allow your concept to come together. Im looking forward to seeing what youll do in your concept! -Ms. C

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Works Cited Fight for the Future. "SOPA STRIKE Timeline." SOPA STRIKE. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2012. <http://sopastrike.com/timeline>. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. USA PATRIOT Act. 26 Oct. 2001. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. <http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot>. GovTrack.us. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112968>. Internet History. 2006. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. <http://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history>. Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris. Free Expression in the Age of the Internet: Social and Legal Boundaries. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2000. 226-30. Print. Smith, Lamar. "Congressman Lamar Smith 21st District of Texas." Statement from Chairman Smith on SOPA. 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://lamarsmith.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=275770>. Wired. "FBI 'Fesses Up to Net Spy App." Wired.com. 12 Dec. 2001. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. <http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/12/49102>.

Beth Caruso 2/27/12 8:30 PM Comment [13]: Take out URLs.

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1 Start my concept when the bills are being thought about (basic planning stages) 2 This is where I want to start my concept. Not really 10 years before SOPA and PIPA, but in the era when the Patriot act and Magic Lantern were the center of Internet protection in America. 3 First big date in The New Internet Era, proposal of PIPA 4 One of two main congressmen involved. Government side of story based around them. 5 I want to show discussion between the senator and his cosponsors. Shows how the bill progressed 6 Second main congressman character 7 Show discussion in the boardroom of these large websites. How they plan to fight the bills and keep their website alive. 8 MOST IMPORTANT DATE IN THE MOVIE!!! Show American citizens getting on their computers only to see that the site they want to visit is blacked out in argument. They then learn about the bills and sign one of the online petitions/call a congressman/ protest in public/etc. 9 Make sure to show emphasis on these facts. They changed the outcome of the bills in one day. 10 Show meetings where the cosponsors are with either Smith or Leahy 11 Have a scene of him giving this speech to reporters