Fallows recommends the above video explaining the Protect IP Act or SOPA:
Every developed society has had to work out the right balance of how far it will go to ensure that inventors and creators will get a reasonable return for their discoveries. If it does too little — as in modern China, where you can buy a DVD of any movie for $1.50 from a street vendor — it throttles the growth of creative industries. (China both over-controls political expression and under-controls commercial copying.) If it does too much — encouraging "patent troll" lawsuits, arresting people for file-sharing music or video streams — it can throttle growth and creativity in other ways. There is no perfect answer, but this bill would tip the balance way too far in one direction, to defend incumbents in the entertainment industry.
The Dish 