The SOPA- and PIPA-fueled furor that resulted in the blacking out of Wikipedia, Reddit, and WordPress, shows no sign of slowing down. It’s interesting to note, though, that most people don’t seem to actually understand what the end goal of SOPA and PIPA are. Many warning messages displayed during the blackout, including those displayed by Reddit and Wikipedia, proclaimed the end or radical altering of the internet if SOPA or PIPA is enacted into law — but they didn’t say how.

While it varies from publication to publication, SOPA and PIPA have generally been described as anti-piracy laws. This is true, but as the full name of PIPA suggests — PROTECT IP Act — these bills are about much more than simply shutting down The Pirate Bay or your favorite pirate movie/music streaming service. In reality, if SOPA and PIPA become law, American rights holders will have the power to shut down millions of websites that span the gamut of almost every commercial enterprise, from selling fake pharmaceuticals and bootleg Vera Wang purses, to sites that stream StarCraft 2.

To get some idea of the scale of SOPA and PIPA, take a look at the list of industries and organizations that support H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act. It’s true that Printing & Publishing, Commercial TV, and Entertainment Industry are all big supporters, but they’re actually beaten out by both Pharmaceuticals and Wine & Distilled Spirits. Heck, if you needed confirmation that this isn’t all about piracy, bear in mind that one of the top supporters of SOPA is the Tobacco & Tobacco Products industry. Also high on the list are Building Trades Unions and even the Civil Servants/Public Employee sector, neither of which have an obvious link to piracy, copyright infringement, or intellectual property theft.

In short, then, the supporters of SOPA and PIPA were hoping for a lot more than merely mopping up piracy on the internet. Both SOPA and PIPA are far-ranging bills that give just about any American company the ability to shut down and remove a website without due process.

What follows is a list of websites that could be shut down if SOPA and PIPA pass into law. Once you’ve checked out the list and realized that most of your favorite websites are on there, be sure to write to write to Congress and make your voice heard.

Justin.tv, Ustream, etc. – One of the biggest issues with SOPA is that it requires online services to screen everything that passes through their system. Justin.tv, which features a lot of live-streaming gamers and webcammers playing music, could be shut down.

– One of the biggest issues with SOPA is that it requires online services to screen everything that passes through their system. Justin.tv, which features a lot of live-streaming gamers and webcammers playing music, could be shut down. YouTube, Break, Cheezburger, etc. This goes without saying, but almost any site that hosts multimedia content, be it The Pirate Bay, Megaupload (!), or YouTube is free game for any American company to shut down.

This goes without saying, but almost any site that hosts multimedia content, be it The Pirate Bay, Megaupload (!), or YouTube is free game for any American company to shut down. Canadian & international online pharmacies – SOPA has a clause that targets any site that “endangers public health.” Ostensibly this is to target fake pharma sites (the kind that get filtered into your spam inbox), but the wording of the bill is so vague that perfectly-safe pharmacies based in other Western countries could be shutdown. This could have serious repercussions for Americans who currently save a lot of money by buying their pharmaceuticals online.

– SOPA has a clause that targets any site that “endangers public health.” Ostensibly this is to target fake pharma sites (the kind that get filtered into your spam inbox), but the wording of the bill is so vague that perfectly-safe pharmacies based in other Western countries could be shutdown. This could have serious repercussions for Americans who currently save a lot of money by buying their pharmaceuticals online. Cheap booze and tobacco stores – Likewise, if you like the liquor or partake in the ‘baccy, the same clause of SOPA could mean that your favorite non-domestic off-license gets shut down. Are you starting to see why SOPA has such wide-ranging sponsors?

– Likewise, if you like the liquor or partake in the ‘baccy, the same clause of SOPA could mean that your favorite non-domestic off-license gets shut down. Are you starting to see why SOPA has such wide-ranging sponsors? Tor – Beyond the ability to block infringing sites, SOPA also (obviously!) outlaws tools that can circumvent such blocking. Tor is just one example, but you could even stretch the circumvention clause to include SSHing to your own dedicated server outside the US. Building up a list of IP addresses of your favorite sites, in case they get blacklisted from DNS, would also be illegal.

– Beyond the ability to block infringing sites, SOPA also (obviously!) outlaws tools that can circumvent such blocking. Tor is just one example, but you could even stretch the circumvention clause to include SSHing to your own dedicated server outside the US. Building up a list of IP addresses of your favorite sites, in case they get blacklisted from DNS, would also be illegal. Social networks, forums, or just about any “sharing” site – One of the most important aspects of SOPA and PIPA is the onus they put on service providers. Historically, ISPs, YouTube, Facebook, and other “middlemen” were granted safe harbor, as long as they complied with DMCA take-down requests. With SOPA and PIPA, these services have to monitor their users all the time. If I send a file to a friend, and my ISP doesn’t spot it, my ISP could get shut down. Likewise, if I upload a copyrighted work to a forum, that forum could be shut down. SOPA and PIPA basically mandates that service providers become police. I’ll let you work out whether it’s a good thing to have millions of cops on the web.

In conclusion, then, Reddit and Wikipedia weren’t being hyperbolic when they said that SOPA would destroy the web — but now you know why. If we’ve missed an important website or service that would be hit by SOPA or PIPA, please let us know in the comments.