A lot of major websites are taking themselves offline today, or at least changing their logos in protest. We here at Brian Johns Photography World Headquarters are not altering the website, but we still want to raise awareness of the issue. PIPA and SOPA are toxic to to the culture of user generated content on the Internet and here's why: SOPA means that if a user uploads somebody else's copyrighted content to a website, the website can be liable for extreme damages. If SOPA/PIPA are enacted, websites that rely on user-uploaded content will have to either strictly police every single upload (which probably isn't possible) or change how they do business.
The main proponents of SOPA/PIPA are the big media conglomerates which love to sue people out of business. You can see how this would stifle the online creativity and sharing. Most "2.0" style websites would probably have to shut down and small companies with no legal staff would be foolish to start up.
How does this affect Brian Johns Photography? Well, we don't accept user uploaded content here, so I don't have to worry about that. In fact, this law might even be good for us in the short term - let's say a website posts a photo of mine without permission. I could theoretically take over the domain as punishment!
So why are we opposed to it? It's the principle of the thing. I support every single SOPA/PIPA protest action I've seen today and I encourage you to learn more about the issue and express your opinion on it.