SOPA is a bill in Congress designed to stop online piracy. However, its opponents consider it to be written far too broadly, and companies that support SOPA have been slapped with boycotts. The highest-profile casualty so far is Go Daddy. The registrar initially supported SOPA, but then got hit with a wave of websites (including Wikipedia) transferring their domains to other registrars. Go Daddy caved-in and now opposes SOPA.

Some critics think that the bill will overturn the “safe harbor” clause of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. And that by itself could wreck the internet as we know it. Joel Spolsky of Stack Overflow discussed this in a recent podcast (starting at 27:55). As an example, he used a case where somebody posted a programming question on Stack Overflow. It turned out that the question was from a commercial product – a test that employers use to interview programmers, and was protected by copyright.

Under current law, Stack Overflow could not be held liable for that copyright violation, as long as they took the question down after being notified by the copyright owner. That’s the “safe harbor”. Under SOPA, they might be liable, and even have their website blocked – without due process.

Will websites that feature “user generated content” (including blogs that allow comments) be able to operate under SOPA? Maybe not. So, SOPA is also considered a threat to free speech, which explains the ferocity of the civil war that erupted last week.

Public companies that support SOPA might be of interest to short sellers since boycotts might result in negative earnings surprises. This site lists 360 companies that support SOPA. I’m thinking that companies frequented by techies might be hardest hit.

Read up on SOPA at Wikipedia.

If you are intending to retire on Social Security, make sure that you are mentally prepared to live without running water and indoor plumbing.

Because that’s what’s happening right now in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Now, if you are Larry Kudlow, you are probably shouting:

“Aha! If Social Security had been privatized those poor people could have put their funds in a program run by reputable, private-sector firms like JP Morgan and making a much higher return right now!”

But according to the BBC story, JP Morgan helped to cause the problem:

“Investment bank JP Morgan Securities and two of its former directors have been fined for offering bribes to Jefferson County workers and politicians to win business financing the sewer upgrade.”

Water-and-sewer bills can be as high as $300 a month in Jefferson County, and some people have resorted to outhouses and bottled water. If your social-security check is only $600 a month, then you don’t really have much of a choice.

Maybe you think that I’m exaggerating about civilization ending. But consider this quote from Niall Ferguson’s book Civilization:

“My idea of civilization is as much about sewage pipes as flying buttresses, if not more so, because without efficient public plumbing cities are death-traps, turning rivers and wells into havens for the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.”

Half the population of Birmingham fled a cholera outbreak in 1873. Will we degrade to that level? Maye not, but having people install port-a-potties in their back yards is clearly a step in the wrong direction.

Shortly after Erin Burnett left CNBC, her long-time co-anchor, the great Mark Haines, fell over dead.

Sort of like when an elderly man dies right after his wife dies.

So, who’s next? Gotta be Cramer, right? See the 6:20 mark of this video:

Shell’s new floating LNG “refinery”:

Read more here.

I have been holding this video for several months because I couldn’t think of what to say about it. I was speechless, and still am. But now that Erin Burnett is leaving CNBC for CNN, I guess I need to post it. In any case, direct your attention to the 5:02 mark: