In short SOPA is bad for the Internet and its users, and good for copyright holders.

Companies who support SOPA are already facing a backlash from Internet communities who have started to boycott the companies and their services (see for instance Goddady Tries To Recover After SOPA PR Nightmare).

No SOPA is a Chrome extension that aids Internet users in boycotting SOPA supporting companies and websites. The extension acts as a detector that informs Chrome users if the website they are currently on is supported SOPA.

A notification is displayed on top of the page if that is the case.

The website is still functional and the next step of action is entirely up to the individual user. Some users might close the website right away, others may want to contact the company expressing their disapproval while others may still do business with a company that’s supporting SOPA.

No SOPA uses a database of known SOPA supporters that is updated by the developers regularly. This is necessary as companies may decided to withdraw their support or start supporting SOPA.

Popular companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer or the NBA are supporting the bill, while an equally elusive list including Google, Mozilla, Yahoo or AOL are opposing the bill.

Google Chrome users can download and install No SOPA from the official Google Chrome web store.

In addition; Chrome users can install SOPA Lens, an extension to visualize the effect that SOPA can have on today’s Internet. The extension lets you flag websites that you think are infringing copyright, and displays information if a website has been flagged by a user of the extension, and how many users in total have flagged it.

Flag any sites that could threaten “your” corporation with a single click. Under SOPA, it may be this easy to file a complaint with the Attorney General that requires the government to send takedown notices to ISPs, search engines, and any other sites affiliated with the offender.

SOPA Lens is also available at the Chrome Web Store.

Update: Companies like Apple or Microsoft may not be supporting SOPA after all. Check the comments for more information.

We all remember that AOL released similar data last year using a weak method to anonymize the data. It was possible to identify certain users that were conducting specific searches. The exact nature of the data that is being sold to the marketing companies is not known yet. Experts estimate that the ISPs receive about $0.40 per month per user which totals to $4.80 per year.

An ISP with 10000 users would gain $48000 per year for the data that they sell. Enough money to forget about the privacy rights of their customers. The question remains: how can you find out if your ISP is selling clickstream data ? You could try and call them and ask them directly but the guys from the hotlines probably do not even know what clickstream data is. A better way would be to call a representative or a official data protection officer.

The only possible way to counter this would be to use encryption, specifically encrypted vpns that make it impossible for the ISP to log what their users are doing.