Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

New technologies and online capabilities have forced lawmakers to reconsider laws and alter their interpretations. The result has become conflict between law makers often not fully familiar with Internet issues and online communities who wish to remain relatively unregulated. SOPA, the Stop Online Privacy Act, is one such recent area of conflict and heated debate.

What is SOPA?

SOPA is an anti-piracy bill (known as H.R 3261) that was proposed to the U.S. Congress on October 26, 2011. Since the bill was introduced, the House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011 to debate its contents.

• Commercial Felony Streaming Act, 2011
  
• PROTECT IP Act, 2011

The core element of the bill is that it would grant the government a high level of power over the Internet that opponents claimed would have very little checks and balances.

Opponents suggest the bill is a major threat to every large commercial Website and social media platform. Creators, if the bill was to pass, would essentially have the ability to blacklist and block Websites if they believe are in violated of the proposed bill. There could also be new access and download restrictions for Internet users, and it could essentially completely change the Internet as it is known.

The argument for the passing of SOPA

Beyond the US government, the list of organizations that are in support of SOPA is extensive. Some of the most notable proponents include:

• Directors Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild
  
• Motion Picture Association of America
  
• National Cable & Telecommunications Association
  
• Independent Film & Television Alliance
  
• National Association of Theatre Owners
  
• National Music Publishers' Association and American Federation of Musicians

Proponents in favor of the bill argue that jobs are threatened by Websites that benefit and profit from copyright infringement. They believe that these Website and IP-related thefts cost the economy approximately $100 billion annually.

The argument against the passing of SOPA

Opponents to SOPA contain some of the giants of the Internet, including:

• Google
  
• Facebook
  
• Yahoo
  
• AOL
  
• eBay
  
• Bloomberg
  
• Reddit
  
• Tumblr
  
• Wikipedia
  
• Craigslist

They are concerned that that language of the bill does not understand how the Internet functions and disregards the principle of the Internet. They believe that the passing of the bill would have a negative impact on the global economy by hurting companies whose primary means of business is conducted online.

Blackout Wednesday

As the anti-SOPA campaign gained international media attention, opponents of the bill took a stand on January 18th, 2012, called Blackout Wednesday. High profile Websites, in protest of the bill shut down for the day, including: Wikipedia; Wordpress; TwitPic; and Google, which slowed down performance for the day.

In addition to the blackout, close to 20,000 anti-SOPA supported turned out for a rally in New York outside the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, two supporters of the bill.

SOPA is dropped

On January 20, 2012 in light of an increasing amount of pressure and opposition, lawmakers in the US decided to stop the anti-piracy bill. Lamar Smith, who initially introduced the bill, claimed that further action would be delayed until there was a wider consensus on the proposed legislation.