I think of SOPA as a clear example like this.
SOPA became a hand sanitizer. It was produced by Hollywood Pharmaceuticals and its partner, the American goverment, and it'll earn them big bucks. It will kill 99.9% of online piracy, and our freedom! That's why it's called SOAP. They just switched the A & P around. It doesn't even fully prevent online piracy. They're actually preventing freedom, creativity, just because it is apparently involved with copyrighted cells. There's still that .1% of online piracy. It will grow larger until the hand sanitizer is used again, and we drop down to .1% again. What do we do? We need to grow viruses, to eventually become resistant from the sanitizer, and backfire. Eventually SOPA, the sanitizer, well it'll fail in preventing online piracy, and we're pretty much safe.
Then again, there's also PIPA. . Oh what to do about that one. . . IN ONE WEEK. Yes, it will be decided whether this one will be passed or not on January 24th which is next week. This is the semi-ultimate fate of the internet.
So, in general, drop the SOPA, and don't give a peep about PIPA. Oppose against it. Save Gaia.