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January 16, 2012by Alex Fitzpatrick via Mashable
Former Vice President (and Apple board member) Al Gore has some strong words against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
The bill “would very probably have the effect of really shutting down the vibrancy of the Internet,” Gore said at a CareerBuilder event Thursday night.
SOPA, if passed, would give the U.S. federal government a wide array of powers for disabling a website it found to be in violation of copyright law. Many Internet users and tech companies, including Yahoo, Google and eBay, consider the bill dangerous to the structure of the Internet as we know it.
Gore certainly, if belatedly, agrees. “In our world today there is hardly anything more important than to save and protect the vibrancy and freedom of the Internet,” he said.
Video of Gore’s statement was available on YouTube Friday morning. However, the amateur footage, seemingly recorded on a mobile phone or other personal device, has since been removed. Neither the original uploader of the video nor CareerBuilder were available for comment.
Gore holds a special place in Internet lore. While running for president in 2000, the Democratic nominee told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he “took the initiative in helping to create the Internet.” That statement spawned a myth which persists today — that Gore claims he invented the Internet. The truth, and Gore’s claim, is more subtle. (Snopes.com has a full breakdown of the Gore myth here.)
Gore certainly had a hand in nurturing the Internet’s growth while serving in Congress; he introduced the “High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991″ (HPCA). Better known as the “Gore Bill,” the law provided for a massive improvement on existing digital communications infrastructure.
So, while Gore didn’t “invent” the Internet, he clearly knows a thing or two about it. And he’s very worried that SOPA could destroy the thing which he worked to help bring about.
“Anything that would threaten the vibrancy and freedom of the Internet and the future, I’m against,” said Gore.