andreis

Yes, yes, YES it would. It is in fact the intended use of the legislation. Saying they won't use the option once it is available to them is simply closing your eyes and hoping for the best.

1. Look at what they've done in the past with other pieces of legislation: they've introduced the patriot act to give them powers to deal with "terrorists" (even though the term was so loosely defined, it could include anyone). "We'll only use those powers to crack down on bad terrorists". A couple of months later, they're jailing without due process normal citizens. "We'll just throw a helping hand in Libya, this is not a war, it's a <kinetic military action>".
It's clear, once you look at history, that once given the power to do something, not only will they use it, they'll abuse it and then TAKE some more.
Under this legislation, if you don't like a site with user generated content because it's posting content that discredits your own ideas, you could simply covertly post some offending content and then ask that the site be taken down (which will happen without due process).

2. They already have legislation to allow them to ask sites to take down offensive material. As the president of Google put it, the way to fight piracy is to offer a better service. And indeed it is so (I'm saying this as an employee of a software company that has had to deal with piracy).

3. You quoted the radio show (which I've not listened to) in which the wiki representative kept being asked whether he'd read the legislation or not. In my view, most of the media is under the severe influence of a very few powerful people and offers a generally distorted view of what's going on / about to happen. You'll be better off listening to independent sources (like the internet which they're trying to censor).
If the fact that a large number of sites with user generated content are trying to fight this piece of legislation is not ringing alarms for you, you need to WAKE UP!! Many forums (advrider, thumpertalk etc), wiki, youtube, facebook and others are all under threat and many have taken a clear stance against the legislation. You can also find a large amount of info on those sites regarding PIPA and SOPA, so they've clearly read the legislation before deciding that they think it's no good for everyone.


4. If you think "I'm british and I'm safe", think again! The french (why is it always them) president was suggesting the very same things 1 year ago. He just wanted censorship in general for the tinternet (because all this freedom is bad for ya'!!!). Once the US makes the move, they'll have precedence for introducing such legislation in the EU and it WILL affect you then. As they say, "at first they (nazis) came for the blacks and I didn't do anything, 'cause they hadn't come for me. then they came for the jews. then (..) then (..) then (..). then they came for me and there was no one left to help me".

If you believe that doing nothing will certainly improve the situation and tilt it in your favor, I beg you to reconsider.