As the wind whipped at his face, Jason Wilkins, second year law student, gritted his teeth and kept his sign high: “Stop PIPA: USA’s 1st Internet Censorship Law.”

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wilkins waged a lone protest in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons, though he was joined by another student for a short time. He handed out flyers to passerby and answered their questions about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Sophomore history major Robert Alanzo spoke with Wilkins and said he wanted to sign a petition against both pieces of legislation.

“I’m all for protecting intellectual property, but the possibility of censoring the internet could potentially cross first amendment rights,” Alanzo said.

Wilkins said he thinks SOPA and PIPA would lead to the censorship of Internet users because websites where users upload content could run into copyright issues.

“In order for websites to protect themselves from liability, they will limit user activity,” Wilkins said. “In effect, [the law] would censor the users. So websites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter would stop letting people upload content.”

Following increased exposure and the efforts of various websites during an “internet blackout,” voting on SOPA and PIPA was postponed. However, Wilkins said he wanted to make sure that the public was familiar with PIPA when it came back to a vote, since he thinks SOPA received more media attention. Voting for SOPA has been moved to February; voting on PIPA has been indefinitely postponed.

Houston McBroom, senior public health administration, spoke to Wilkins and received the office numbers for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-IL. McBroom said he would call them and voice his opposition to the acts.

“The Internet should be open to whoever,” McBroom said.