As of this writing, it looks like the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act are both on life support. Still, it's important to note that if this monstrosity ever becomes law, its effects could be felt north of the border as well.
"The goal, in many ways, of SOPA is to reach beyond the borders of the United States," said Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor and copyright expert.
"It's Canadian sites and sites around the world that would find themselves a target for these kinds of actions."
The proposed laws would do this because, Geist explains, they are written so any website domain name registered in the United States is treated as if it were a U.S. page - The Gazette's website included.
Because Canadian and U.S. copyright laws differ, a website could be taken down for breaking U.S. provisions, without running afoul of Canadian law.
Specifically, any site ending in .com, .net or .org is considered an American site for the purposes of the law. While the Canadian government hasn't weighed in yet officially, Ontario's privacy commissioner says that Canadians should be very worried about the privacy implications.
One of my Canadian online friends operates a Website, and she mentioned on her Facebook that if it were registered in the States, it would be blocked because it links to over 1,800 Web sites and there's no way she can prove they've never violated the American definition of copyright. As we all know, this law is written in such a way any site that even links to a potentially infringing site could be blocked.
Supporters are deserting the bill like rats from a sinking ship, and Obama is making noises about vetoing it. However, one would think that international protests could help drive this monstrosity into its grave.