SOPA, PIPA and the sequel ACTA!

Privacy is a huge concern in the world we live in and it should not be taken lightly. Technology has grown to such proportions that information goes viral faster than it ever has. Controlling  or restricting the flow of information is extremely difficult if not impossible and it raises the question to what extent is it an option,where does one draw the line, without conflicting with privacy and freedom of speech. An example of this is the two bills put forth by the U.S. Congress,I am talking about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Personal Information Protection Act), which undoubtedly provoked the public to express their pessimistic view with regards to the bills. You may ask what is so wrong about protecting  personal information or stopping piracy act? Yes, on the surface it all sounds good, but if the government is allowed the power to freely and easily enforce its power it would
undoubtedly be liable to infringe on freedom of speech as swell as the tamper with innovative ideas. As the saying goes "with power comes great responsibility".  I do believe that there will be positive aspects but history has shown us that power can lead to catastrophic circumstances. The government would potentially use it to satisfy their goals by silencing any opposition that is in their way. Next time you visit this blog it may be no longer here. A few lines above I used the words "freely" and "easily", this is in relation to the reaction time of "dealing" with a website. As we have recently seen Megaupload, a site renowned around the world for file sharing, has been "taken down" by the U.S. government. I researched around and found that the investigation  against Megaupload began in 2010, at the latest. http://nikcub.appspot.com/posts/how-megaupload-was-investigated-and-indicted
This is two years before they were officially shut down, however this time will become greatly reduced if the bills are passed. Due to the large number of protests of web sites and communities around the globe the U.S. congress has halted the bills (http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/20/u-s-congress-pulls-sopa-legislation/). Is this the end, are the bills "dead"?

ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is another hot topic at the moment, not too far of from SOPA and PIPA, which yet remains to come to a conclusion.  A number of countries have signed ACTA. Numerous groups have stood up against ACTA and its vague and unclear definition, and are untouched by the reassurance of ACTA that it will not hinder freedom of speech. What happens now? Where do we go from here?