I find it oddly peculiar that when all basic human rights considered the idea of censorship is one that I find most appalling, and overly punishing. I suppose that the right to speak freely and express your particular stance or point of view is not seen nearly as imperative to the central government of the United States as it is to me. Under the newly submitted bill DOPA it would seem as though our right to free expression could possibly be under threat once again. DOPA separates itself from prior proposals that attacked our 1st amendment rights such as Rosenburg vs. Board of Education of the City of New York, 1949 an act attempting to ban literary copies of Oliver Twist and The Merchant of Venice from public schools. As this act was attempting to limit what the children of society are able to read in a class room, DOPA acts to prevent particular messages conveyed on the World Wide Web. The petitions forming to censor online interaction is in my mind an act against communication and global connection. On a infinite platform such as the internet how can we decide who evaluates what we are able to say and what we are able to read? One previous example of over enduring censorship in a modernized society was seen in the Third Reich in Nazi Germany, which is perhaps an extreme example but one none the less. All I am attempting to say is that I think it is extremely important to allow our population to speak with a clear conscience, and without fear of retribution. After all we are America, the land of the free.