Justin Bieber’s current success has humble roots, beginning with posting YouTube videos of himself singing R&B songs, in violation of copyright. PIPA and SOPA, in the Senate and House, respectively, are the latest legislative efforts to make posting a video containing any copyrighted work a felony. Together, according to Fight for the Future, the bills attempt to address online copyright and trademark infringement and, if passed, would result in the imprisonment of violators (like Bieber) for five years. Good thing that in light of recent criticism, as of Jan. 20, Rep. Lamar Smith has shelved SOPA while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed the Jan. 24 vote on PIPA.

Given birth in 2011, SOPA and PIPA are relatively new legislations, but the concepts they embody are not unheard of. Copyright and trademark infringement have been an ongoing problem on the web, and SOPA and PIPA represent the attempt to control online trafficking of copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods by giving the arbitrary power to remove content and block any site on the global Internet for one infringing link. The power to break the Internet is an unprecedented “solution,” which, unsurprisingly, aroused vehement opposition.

According to Fight for the Future, SOPA and PIPA would put ordinary users into jail without trial for posting anything that violated copyright laws, whether it be background music in videos or footages of people dancing. Popular sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook would become liable for all of their users’ posts, so they would be forced to practice censorship or get shut down.

Since Dec. 17, the day Reid made the last-minute push for a vote on PIPA to take place (after this publication’s press deadline) on Jan. 24, opposition has only continued to build with each passing day. According to CNET, nearly 90,000 Tumblr users telephoned Congress to register their disagreement, and another 10,000 did by using Engine Advocacy’s website. More than one million people have signed a petition posted Avaaz.org advocacy group; over 700,000 people chose to “like” Americancensorship.org, an anti-SOPA site through Facebook.

Unprecedented laws inspire unprecedented action. According to Avaaz.org, on Jan. 18, Wikipedia led a blackout protest to give everyone a taste of what the whole Internet could look like if SOPA and PIPA were to become law. Interestingly, on the same day, federal shutdown of Megaupload prompted “hacktivists” under the group Anonymous to retaliate by breaking the websites of the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA, Motion Picture Association of America and Warner Music Group. Anonymous operative Barrett Brown said the ultimate purpose was to “damage campaign-raising abilities of remaining Democrats who support SOPA.” In the past year, from the Arab Spring to the global Occupy Movement, we have seen how the web can galvanize, unify and change society. SOPA and PIPA are just more tests; from them, we can learn to more effectively flex our muscles of protest and prevail against future attacks on our rights and freedoms. The steps are simple: sign petitions, put pressure on congressional members and stay informed. Things could change in a moment’s notice. But if we protest, we can stop it.