Obviously this is breaking news so a lot of details aren’t known. But let’s get a few things straight.

SOPA & PIPA did not shut down megaupload. SOPA & PIPA are not yet laws. MegaUpload was shut down through current, active laws.

Saying that because MegaUpload was shut down means twitter or facebook or youtube is next is ridiculous. Look, SOPA & PIPA are still massively huge problems but making Ryan Gosling appear in my bedroom is more likely to happen at this moment.

MegaUpload is a piracy site. I can not stress this enough. MEGAUPLOAD SUPPORTS & FACILITATES PIRACY. It is a problem, a severe one and one that has been under investigation. Shutting it down is perfectly in keeping with fighting piracy. Good grief, look at the name.

Again, there are plenty more details about this that will ultimately be made available but for now, I’d suggest taking a moment before freaking out. Especially if you spend yesterday advocating against and educating people about SOPA & PIPA. The point of most of those fighting is that while piracy is bad, free speech & expression should be protected, things SOPA & PIPA don’t do. Screaming about MegaUpload shutting down technically gives credence to our opponents arguments by suggesting that all we really want is to get copyrighted material for free. It implies that you really do support piracy. So keep calling your Senators & Representatives about SOPA & PIPA but maybe take a breath before freaking out about megaupload’s shutdown.