The internet is in an uproar over SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act), believing that it will bring about massive changes to the current online environment. By limiting access and denying financial transactions to websites and companies posting anything that so much as resembles a copyright violation, SOPA could kick millions of users off of hundreds of the web’s most popular destinations.

Few online groups stand to be as damaged as the online gaming community. If passed, SOPA could signal the end for sites like TwoPlusTwo, PokerNews, and FlopTurnRiver. By posting news and information regarding the online gambling industry, all such web destinations would likely face charges from the government. The presence of even a single ad featuring, say, a bonus from PokerStars or another company doing business outside of the US, could result in criminal prosecution. How-to information, such as online poker tutorials, could be deemed illegal due to their discussion of copyrighted material.

Even Google, the massive online search engine, could be forced to screen the search results of their users. Should they refuse to comply, they could face massive fines or charges.

“Of course,” wrote Neil Stevens of the conservative RedState.com, “restrictions of results provided by Internet search engines amount to just that: prior restraint of their free expression of future results. Google and others, under SOPA, are told what they can or can’t publish before they publish it.”

Google isn’t the only site which could face charges in the potential SOPA future. Services such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and many other popular internet hangouts could each find themselves under the government’s guns. As ridiculous as this sounds, it’s also true. The vague wording of the SOPA legislation allows companies to bring charges against any site which allows the posting of copyrighted material. So, say someone posts a copyrighted photo on their Facebook account – Under the current draft of SOPA, it would be possible for the owner of that photo to censor the entire social network.

And yet, one of the most perplexing points regarding SOPA is that, for all its bluster, it won’t actually be able to totally take offending sites off the internet. While users would no longer be able to reach these sites by entering their URL, they would still be able to access them by typing in the necessary IP address. Essentially, all this means is that content pirates would need to alter their bookmarks. While it could indeed serve as a mild discouragement for people thinking about entering the illegal fray, what good will it do for established privateers who, by the very nature of their chosen pastime, already possess a high degree of internet know-how?

So, if American industry and government team up to limit the internet, aren’t we essentially modeling ourselves after the current practices of China? Former CNN journalist Rebecca MacKinnon, now known as the co-founder of Global Voices Online, examined the similarities between the two situations. “The intention,” she says, “is not the same as China’s Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar.”

Look – I’m no advocate of piracy. Those who put their creative content into the public eye (including myself and my colleagues) deserve to get paid for their work. But the bottom line here is that SOPA will not put a halt to internet piracy. If anything, it will only force those intent on breaking the law deeper underground and further offshore. And what will the solution to that problem be? Restrict access to every website not featuring an American IP address?

In the end, the SOPA issue reaches far beyond the concerns of the online gaming industry. It is, in fact, a threat to the continual growth of internet knowledge and freedom of speech. Its ambitions are noble, but in the end, it will do little to address the problems against it was originally conceived. As currently drafted, SOPA is the politicians’ way of stating that the ends justify the means. But with such woefully unclear goals, who can be sure where these new and terrible powers will lead us?

Fortunately, there appears to be hope on the horizon. The proposed law, scheduled for a vote near the end of this month, has seen several of its major supporters abandoning ship. GoDaddy.com, the online domain name provider and former SOPA supporter, has recently withdrawn its support in the face of a looming boycott from its users. Law firms are leaping off by the dozen, as are other companies and websites.

Citizens can continue this trend by contacting their local congressperson and encouraging others to do the same. Use this government website to determine which official represents your area, after which you can call or send an email to their office.