Why Sopa & Protect-ip are bad ideas

There is proposed legislation in the US that would give broad rights to block entire web sites based on mere allegations that a small part of it might have some infringing content.   The legislation is backed by the entertainment industry as an anti-piracy measure.  There is a groundswell of opposition against the legislation, but it is still very possible that it could become law. Mike Masnick of Techdirt has a great article explaining in detail what the problem is.