With all the talk of SOPA I have decided to re-post this. This was Guest Blogged by blogger Elaine Hirsch on December 2, 2011. I think it's relevant to repost it.
Just My Opinion welcomes back Guest Blogger Elaine Hirsch who is kind
of a
jack-of-all-interests, from
education and history to medicine and videogames. This makes it
difficult to
choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for
various
education-related sites and writing about all these things instead. She
is the author of this post and can be reached at: elainehi86@gmail.com.
In this post Elaine explains the Stop online Piracy act or SOPA as it is
called:
Regulating
copyright in the media sphere is hardly nothing new; master's
degree students study the topic heavily and debate about finding a
balance between creativity and equality in their courses. Advocates of the Stop Online Privacy Act
(SOPA) claim it will target intellectual piracy sites and stem the tide of
counterfeit goods. Designed to allow for private organizations to nominate URLs
and websites which allegedly infringe upon copyright laws, the act aims to
accomplish many admirable goals indeed. However, it is difficult to see how
this Act (in its current iteration) can actually accomplish what it intends
without stifling free expression and giving control of the Internet over to
special interest groups with deep pockets.
It essentially shifts the regulation of the internet to third-party
corporations while the government's only role is to enforce the regulation.
What It Does Not Do
Unfortunately, the SOPA does not directly impact the site owners or the IP
addresses, so it will not stop piracy. Most piracy sites are overseas and
outside of US jurisdiction. Anyone in the US who wishes to continue to access a
piracy site will be able to do so using the IP address of the pirate's site.
What this means is that savvy torrenters will quickly catch on to the new rules
of the game, nullifying much of the effects of the act. Piracy sites will find
ways to get their IP addresses to their customers without the Internet or they
will launch new domains. Either way, the bill will always be playing a
cat-and-mouse game with media pirates.
Some proponents point to the $135 billion dollars in lost revenue due to piracy
and counterfeit activities. They believe this act will reclaim this income and
restore lost jobs and tax revenue. Unfortunately, the people most likely to
purchase pirated or counterfeited goods are often least likely to ever become
legitimate customers. No matter how much revenue is potentially lost this way,
it is not clear that this bill could do anything to recover it.
Shifting Responsibility
Under current law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act does not hold third
party websites responsible for unwittingly hosting material that breaks
copyright law or promotes piracy. A content site like YouTube or Twitter can be
asked to remove such material when it is found, but these sites are not
punishable for allowing the content to have appeared in the first place.
Under the proposed SOPA, websites
would be forced to preview all content submitted by third parties to be certain
it will not land them afoul of the law. Social media sites like Facebook would
have to approve status updates and links before allowing them to post. Given
the loose definition of what copyright infringement can be interpreted as,
someone might decide your wedding video violates copyright because they can
hear the music you are dancing to.
Stifling Small Business and Internet Start ups
Knowing the high stakes of piracy will lead most companies to censor heavily to
avoid costly litigation. Added layers of approval will add to the costs.
Internet firms will pass these costs on to their customers and the price of
doing business online will rise.
New websites could be hounded out of business by competitors with abundant
financial and legal resources. Rather than reclaiming lost jobs and revenue,
this act will likely make it much more expensive to launch a new Internet
business in 2012.
Unprecedented Power
We are already seeing the potential power the SOPA may impart to judges. A Nevada court
recently ruled in favor of Chanel and ordered the termination of 600 domains
that possibly promoted or sold counterfeit Chanel products.
It remains to be seen what authority Nevada had to rule on this case, but it
does demonstrate how the copyright infringement can be punished if SOPA is
passed. Consider that your corner drugstore sells probably sells cheap colognes
with unique names that "smell like" brand names. Everyone knows they
are not buying Chanel No. 5 or Joy. Under SOPA, if that store sold this product
online, it might have its domain seized and shut down for promoting counterfeit
or even similar goods.
Preserve Free Enterprise
The Internet has fostered communication and access to information for people
all over the world. This openness has challenged creative media companies which
have been struggled to adjust to the shift online. Unfortunately, this solution
they offer would not solve piracy, but it would hamper free speech and
concentrate more power in the hands of the mighty.
As also feel free to contact me if you would like to be a guest blogger, just hit the "contact me" tab.
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