SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, which is a bill that was introduced by the United States House of Representatives in the year 2011. The bill aims at defying online trafficking in counterfeit goods and online copyright infringement. In simple words, the bill aims at reducing overall online piracy. The words of the act are cryptic enough to enable large corporations as well as the US government to:
- Withhold the internet service ahead of being found guilty
- Blacklist those websites that are to be clocked by search engines and internet service providers (ISPs)
- Intervene with the domain name system (DNS) of the internet connection
- Impel search engines to dump or redirect the URLs of specific websites
Proponents of the SOPA state that the act will safeguard the market of intellectual property and related industries, revenue and jobs, and is essential to assist the copyright laws’ enforcement, especially against websites that are foreign-owned and operated. Opponents of the SOPA state that the act jeopardizes the freedom of innovation and speech, and allows law enforcement to block the access of internet users to whole internet domains as a result of the infringing content posted on a single web page or blog. This anti-piracy bill led to the shutting down of several popular websites including Wikipedia and Reddit.
Why Should You Bypass SOPA?
SOPA is an act that consists of several wide-reaching repercussions, some of which should never have been added in such an act, as argued by many. The legislation is especially surprising as it has been introduced in the land of free speech. By way of SOPA, anybody can delve for a court order opposing a web provider who is conceived to have infringed on a copyrighted content in some way or the other.
Such specifications of the bill can lead to the shut down of several thousand websites and other web services. Any individual who uploads a picture taken by somebody else or posts a quote on a web page would be considered to have broken the terms of SOPA. During the time in which the bill was introduced, several large and popular websites blacked out for 24 hours to signify their protest against it. Some of these websites include Amazon, Google, PayPal, and Wikipedia.
How to Bypass SOPA?
Several websites are restricted access to the public through the SOPA. This is made possible by assigning blockades through your internet service provider, which establishes a firewall between your system and the website you are trying to access. The best way in which you can bypass SOPA is by installing a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN service functions by routing all your information or data by way of an encrypted tunnel when it is passed over the internet and until it reaches the end point. At this end point, which is a VPN server located in a remote location, you will be assigned a new IP address from that particular location which will mask your original one. This prevents your internet service provider from determining your actual identity and location, let alone your online activities. This way, you will not be blocked by your ISP from accessing those websites that are otherwise restricted access through SOPA.
Best 5 VPN Providers
Following are the top five VPN service providers that can help you bypass SOPA restrictions and access your preferred websites:
| Rank | Provider Name | Starting Price | Money Back Guarantee | Visit Provider Site |
 |
ExpressVPN | $6.67/month | 30 Days |  |
| 2 | Hidemyass | $6.55/month | 30 Days | |
| 3 | IPVanish | $10.00/month | 7 Days | |
| 4 | StrongVPN | $21/ 3 months | 7 Days | |
| 5 | VyprVPN | $14.95/month | 7 Days | |
