The Stop Online Piracy Act is one
of the most infuriating and misguided bills to be introduced to Congress
recently. Introduced on October 26, 2011 the bill is "designed" to
improve law enforcements and copyright holder's ability to combat online trafficking
in intellectual property and counterfeit goods.[1]
Under SOPA, the Justice Department can shut down any web site that is accused
of facilitating or enabling copyright infringement. Instead, the bill is simply
nothing more than an entertainment industry written bill to protect antiquated
business models.
Since the creation of the
Internet, the entertainment industry has struggled to adapt and evolve. For
years, they have tried attacking anyone that illegally downloads their content.
However, as one site shuts down, a new website springs up within hours containing
the exact same information. Under SOPA, sites would face a lower burden of
guilt before facing removal. It is likely that under SOPA, the Department of
Justice could remove legitimate websites all because a user posted copyright
material. Under SOPA, YouTube must remove thousands of videos or face removal
by the Department of Justice.
My biggest problem with SOPA is
that it painfully obvious that lobbyists bought and paid for the Congressional
representatives who introduced the bill. Just last week, it Politico revealed
that two senior congressional aides who wrote the very bill are now working as
lobbyists. What bill are they working on lobbying for Congress to pass? They
are now lobbyists for SOPA, the very bill that they wrote. The very wrote
people who wrote the bill, are now being paid for by the entertainment industry
to lobby for the bill. This just screams of a massive conflict of interest and
absolutely sickens me. American people will suffer because the entertainment
industry is stuck in 1992.
Instead of working to shut down
these sites, the entertainment industry needs to create new functional business
models. The old models do not work anymore and the entertainment industry refuses
to accept that. Why would someone pay for a movie when I can download it online
with less hassle? If I buy a legitimate copy of a movie, I have to sit through
minutes of content that I am unable to skip. Meanwhile, if I had downloaded the
same movie online I do not have to watch that content. Why punish users who buy
legitimate copies of a movie? Steam and Netflix have shown that alternate
business models can work in the age of the Internet.
I am very much against this
horror of a bill that pretends to protect America's best interests. The bill is
nothing more than entertainment industry backed garbage that pretends to be in
America's best interests. Many experts have argued that this bill will create
"The Great American Firewall" similar to the Chinese. Millions of
other Americans and I all agree that we do not want to see "The Great
American Firewall." Nevertheless, that seems that is what MPAA Chairman
Chris Dodd wants to see for America when he said, " When the Chinese told
Google that they had to block sites or they couldn't do [business] in their
country, they managed to figure out how to block sites[2]."
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