IT’S DO-OR-DIE TIME: HELP PREVENT THE “STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT”!

The Stop Online Piracy act, or SOPA, is a scary, scary bill. It would ostensibly allow the government to shut down websites — ANY websites — at the drop of a hat due to any content which could be considered piracy. For example, MetalSucks could get shut down if a READER — not even a member of our staff — posted a link to ANY copyrighted materials, be it an illegal song download, a video, or even an album cover, in our comments section. Given how difficult it is for us to properly police the comments section, SOPA would probably mean the end of MetalSucks in no time flat.

And maybe you hate MetalSucks, and you’d be happy to see us go away. Fair enough. But SOPA could also mean the end of literally thousands and thousands of other metal and non-metal related websites. YouTube will be forced to go to unreasonably great length to police users’ contributions, and search engines like Google will have to drastically re-work their architecture to censor certain search results from appearing.

This bill pushes censorship while parading as “piracy prevention.” And the worst part is, SOPA is going to a full committee for a vote THIS THURSDAY, and will very likely pass. And if that horrifies you, well, it ought to.

Which is why we’re asking that you please, please, please call your congressperson today and let your objections be heard. It’s incredibly easy to do so, and will literally only take you a few minutes. Go here, enter your information into the form, and you’ll be connected to your congressman’s office within seconds. You can, and should, also sign this petition, although it’s for the Senate’s equivalent of the bill, which will not be voted on this Thursday.

‘Cause if you don’t, it’s not just the end of MetalSucks. It’s the end of the internet as you know it.