CENSORSHIP
Protesting is so 2011, but that doesn't stop Wikipedia from blacking out their entire English-language site today to protest two pieces of proposed US legislation. Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director posted an open letter to the public on Monday claiming that these laws "would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia."
The first is circulating around the House of Representatives and is called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Basically, the goal of this bill is to restrict access to sites hosting pirated content and therefore decrease copyright infringement on the web. It's hard for US companies to target our favorite foreign sites that host illegal movies, tv shows and music. So, SOPA aims to discourage advertisers from placing ads on the sites as well as flag certain links so they don't appear in search engine results on sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Opponents of the bill say it's essentially promoting censorship and becomes a slippery slope if we free-speech-loving Americans are denied access to even a single site on the web.
Premiering at the Miami International Film Festival, "No One Knows About Persian Cats" showcases the underground music scene in Iran. The film focuses on one band trying to create Indie Rock, but due to censorship in the country, are unable to perform unless they leave the country. Their journey to attain passports, permits, and other band members leads the film crew through the streets of Tehran exploring the music scene in the capital city.
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