Why is there a halo around the internet?

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or Sopa, has just been put on the back burner by the US government following an online howl. Sopa does need a rethink. However, the debate across the media, largely, was about the government's right to police the Net, not about what the Bill sought to do - control piracy. Closer home in India, Kapil Sibal talked about "objectionable material" online. He was lambasted by magazines, newspapers, TV channels and, of course, online.

The message: don't mess with the internet. It is a beacon of democracy, fair play and free speech. It is a forum that offers hope to all the oppressed people in the world. No one can have any jurisdiction over it. The outpouring of venom, the thousands and millions of digital signatures every time anyone questions anything said on the Net tell you how popular it is. This is not just because it reaches over two billion people globally. But because it has a depth, an interactivity and a ubiquity that no other media offers.

Which is why it is important that we ignore Sopa or Sibal. They are merely messengers. What we need to focus on is the debates they throw up - piracy and "objectionable content".

Image: An activist of Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena hold placards and roses outside the residence of Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal in New Delhi on December 7, 2011

Text: Business Standard, Vanita Kohli-Khandekar

Images: AP/AFP