Over 10,000 people voice anger against Irish SOPA already

An online petition against what's been dubbed Ireland's answer to SOPA has gained over 10,000 signatures in less than 24 hours. The government's new statutory instrument could see sites like Facebook and Youtube being shut down in Ireland.

StopSOPAIreland.com was launched yesterday to give voice to the thousands of social networkers whose 'free sh*t' could be arbitrarily taken away by dusty old High Court judges. That's a really bad buzz. So, Facebook user unite!

More seriously, though, the proposed new legislation could go too far and affect jobs in Ireland. The draft proposal is so vague, as it stands, that it will be left up to the judiciary to interpret.

If the government passes the new rules then it's inevitable that copyright holders will barrage the courts with copyright infringement claims. What's scary about the whole thing is that the judges would have the power to block websites in Ireland.

Stop SOPA Ireland is arguing that this counter piracy move will jeopardise Irish jobs and is undemocratic because it will be enshrined in law by ministerial order rather than being voted on in the Dáil.