How SOPA/PIPA Can Affect You
JamalThe United States government has been facing an intense amount of pressure, mostly from the entertainment and computer software publishing companies for years to find some method of stopping the online piracy that is allowing people to own copies of their merchandise for free. This is of course understandable, nobody wants to see something they worked hard on to create something of quality be disrespected by people gaining access to it for free.
However, what the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have planned for their respective bills is not a way of just putting a halt on online piracy. Tech giants such as Mozilla and Google who once supported these bills, now are on the offensive in trying to ensure they never get passed. Before going any further into how this affects the everyday internet users, let’s first get a good understanding about both bills.
Curious about the image above? It’s an infographic from AmericanCensorship.org.
Update:
Internet Blackout Aftermath – Is the Threat of SOPA/PIPA Over?
What is PIPA and SOPA
*Image Credit: Brian Lane Winfield Moore
PIPA
Let’s begin by first breaking down the first of the two bills that were introduced, PIPA. PIPA is an acronym for the Protect IP Act, and was first introduced to the U.S. Senate on May 12, 2011 by Senators Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch, Chuck Grassley. It is also good to take note that PIPA is a re-written legislation, the original being the failed to pass Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) of 2010.
PIPA, if passed, will give U.S. corporations and the government the right to seek affirmative legal action with any website that they see as enabling copyright infringement whether of U.S. origin or not. Here is a breakdown of all that they will have the power to do.
- Force U.S. internet providers to block access to websites deemed as enablers of copyright infringement
- Seek legal action by suing search engines, blog sites, directories, or any site in general to have the black listed sites removed from their website
- Will be able to force advertising services on infringing websites, and those supporting of them, to remove them from their advertising accounts
- Companies will also have the power to sue any new websites that get started after this bill is passed, if they believe that they are not doing a good job of preventing infringement on your website
SOPA
SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act, and is a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Represenative Lamar Smith on October 26, 2011. In similarity with PIPA, SOPA is a build on a previous legislation. This legislation being the PRO-IP Act of 2008.
SOPA, if passed, will work in conjunction with PIPA. As described by such entities as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, SOPA is nothing more so than the U.S. government and private corporations black list. Here is a breakdown of the power given to the government and private corporations.
- The U.S. Attorney General can now seek a court order that would force search engines, advertisers, DNS providers, servers, and payment processors from having any contact with allegedly infringing websites
- It will allow private corporations to create their own personal hit lists composed of websites they feel are breaking their copyright policies, ironically this doesn’t have any odd feelings of a legal mafia at all. These companies will be able to directly contact a website’s payment processors a notice to cut all off payment involvement with the targeted website. This payment processors and website of question will then have five days to act before it is simply taken down.
- Payment processors will have the power to cut off any website they work with, as long as they can provide a strong reason of why they believe this site is violating copyrights
Where Do the Tech Giants Stand
*Image Credit: francesco.chillari
Originally, the majority of technology corporations that put their input into these bills, were in support of it. Companies like Apple, Intel, Corel, Dell, Microsoft, Adobe, and 23 other big name tech companies are supporters under the BSA(Business Software Alliance). However, there is still hope in the realm of big name support of tech giants. Two of the biggest in Mozilla and Google, have gone public with their issues with these bills and their reasons why they can no longer offer their support after further research was done.
Mozilla is strongly against both acts because of its use of DNS filtering in both. Mozilla, like the majority of the tech world, believes that by using DNS filtering this will open up more security risks and slow down the system’s up and coming extension DNSSEC.
How Does This Affect You
*Image Credit: cal Walker1
Well by now one probably has gained a good understanding of what both PIPA and SOPA are, and is wondering how exactly will these acts will directly affect how citizens use the internet. Well in all honestly, a lot of things will change.
Blog Sites like 1stwebdesigner could be blocked or shut down
As stated prior in what PIPA and SOPA are and what will they enable U.S. government agencies and private companies to do, the internet will become a hunt for any little bit of possible copyright violation. Of course the government loves blogs and bloggers, so it is only natural to think that they will receive a lot of special attention. These acts make it the blog owners responsibility for everything that is displayed on their site, including the comments of visitors.
So say an article is published one day featuring a logo, or trademark, of corporation and that corporation doesn’t like that it is being put on display on the site. Now the author of this article could have used it as a teaching method, critique, praising good design, or anything you can think of, it doesn’t matter. With these acts being only direct enough to give an area for attack, and vague enough to manipulate and twist seemingly any possible way, any type of accusation can be made and found true.
Say Goodbye to Innovation
These acts are stopping developers from coming up with the next big thing in the online market that could change how we use the internet. Let’s say that these acts were around back when the internet was started, how many of the most popular sites would still have come into fruition. There would be no Facebook, YouTube, MediaFire, SoundCloud, Twitter, DropBox, or any other site that can be targeted as a place where online piracy could take place. Is it even possible to think about what the internet would be like without sites like this?
Legal Action Over A Child Singing A Song
It is quite oblivious that none of the people on sites like YouTube have been given permission from record label execs to sing their favorite song, and then proceed to post it on a video sharing site. However will that be a problem for the record execs?
The site the child will have posted the video on will be put under pressure to resolve this issue, or face their site being put on the blacklist. This child, and her family, could also very well face legal action with either the site or the record label the song that was sung has copyrighted.
The U.S. Government Hope They Will Spark Global Change
The U.S. government officials and private corporations aren’t only concerned about how these bills will work out in America, they are hoping that they will have the influence to get other nations to follow suit with these acts passing. That means if these acts pass, then the next country this could be coming toward may be yours.
What Can We Do
*Image Credit: xomiele
The House Judiciary Committee will be voting on SOPA, and likely passing it TOMORROW!! Once the bill has been passed by the committe, it will be able to be passed at any time by the House of Representatives. The internet community has always been an active and vocal group about anything we diassaprove of, especially when it is hurting the overall internet experience. This is the time to now show this passion for what the community of professionals, and users, love by telling the U.S. government exactly how you feel. Below, you’ll find some helpful ways so you can become vocal about this presssing issue.
Call Your State Senators
This is the most important thing anyone can do, because this is how your voice can be heard in the process. It is the Senators duty as an elected official to do what is right by, and listen to the will of the people who elected them. If they don’t hear the input from the people, then they’ll have no idea of how anyone feels. Americancensorship.org has a great tool that will help you find who your Senators are, their contact numbers, and get you right in touch with them. They also inform you of speaking points to mention in your conversation before calling.
Inform Anyone You Know
Can you imagine how much stronger and effective the Occupy movement would have been if this happened a few years ago? It would’ve been a completely different playing field, and would have a lot more impact then what it already has on government officials. This movement couldn’t happen earlier because people were not informed and those that were just waited to see how things would affect them before deciding to take action. That philosophy has never worked, and will only lead to trying to get out of a disastrous situation you could have easily prevented.
Sign Online Petitions
You don’t have to be a U.S. citizen to take charge here, online petitions is a great way to get a global reach on how people feel. The most important thing is that everyone is heard, in any shape or form.
Stay Informed
Being unaware of what is going on is only allowing for acts like these to pass through without anyone knowing. Being an informed individual about what is going on in the political world, only makes you more capable of being an advocate for change in a positive fashion. Below you will find some links to good articles, and videos about SOPA and PIPA.
Stop Online Piracy(Scary Facts)
Protect IP Act Breaks the Internet
DNS Filtering In SOPA/PIPA Won’t Stop Piracy, But Will Hurt Online Security
Tech Giants Back Off SOPA Support
Mozilla Renews Call Against SOPA/PIPA
An Alternative To Blacklist Bills SOPA and PIPA
Why Americans Need a Civil Liberties Caucus
What SOPA Means for Business and Innovation(Infographic)
AmericanCensorship.org Infographic
‘SOPA’: Internet Piracy Bills in Congress Threaten Core Values
SOPA visual petition riles up the ‘geek lobby’
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chivalry gunawan
Posted 122 days ago 152you make SOPA and PIPA
i will hacked it till the end ==”
Kayla
Posted 122 days ago 151The PIPA Sopa acts are an uninventive way to force economic stimulation of the entertainment industry. Maybe the fact that people are less willing to spend their money on music and videos is because for 1. The entire American economy is hurting. 2. The entertainment industry is saturated. 3. Media attention tends to revolve around the same artists and actors (who tend to greatly flaunt their wealth) 4. Maybe it’s a wonderful opportunity for the entertainment industry to reinvent it’s business strategies by optimizing the use of the Internet, rather than stifling it.
Hey and from a fashion designers perspective. There is no such thing as copyrighting or trademarking garments, you want to know why? Because sharing ideas leads to inspiration and innovation. Fear and censorship do not create inspiration and innovation. Haven’t we been though this before?
Let’s live in a world where there is creative and passionate artists but be realistic and realize that not everyone can or will pay for it, while there are also many who will. Find joy in providing the world with entertainment, its what gets everyone through their days, especially those who don’t receive million dollar pay checks for their hard work.
joshy
Posted 122 days ago 150*Comment removed by SOPA*
Jonathan C Thomas
Posted 122 days ago 149I think this bill is for greedy businesses that want all the money in the world. It’s like trying to stop people from stealing at a super market, by having an employee following 1 foot behind every customer, this bill punishes the whole web for other people stealing. Even if they pass it, people will still sell bootleg movies, copy a music cd 10 times, they can’t get around it, big businesses, cut your loses, and enjoy your billions.
newmen
Posted 122 days ago 148I agree on the fact that maybe all this stir came in handy to some, as an opportunity to take bigger control of information flowing on internet, and maybe other stuff that wasn’t said here in this article(Don’t know if true, but heard that this law would give some the permission to check our emails, and other stuff).
Regarding of what it is said in this article, I think it’s ok with protecting owner’s rights. But I also think is going a bit too far when saying you can’t even use an image, upload a video with some song, or express yourself freely through your blogspot, this is certainly an excess.
Now, while I’m writting this lines, and having read all this, I don’t feel as free as I’ve felt commenting before.
Another thing is that right owners won’t percieve an income equivalent to all the downloads from internet of their copyrighted material uploaded illegaly, because I think it’s obvious that everyone downloading this stuff, if stuff being banned some day from internet, won’t inmediately go and purchase the very same amount in a store, and that’s because they do it because it’s free, not just because of the simple comfort of not leaving home to buy it.
me
Posted 122 days ago 147burn SOPA and PIPA to the ground ! ! the US government never really thought this through and how it would really bring down the economy of America . . i guess that’s what happen if a war suddenly stops and the US government can’t lay off that war addiction . .
first, US based companies would start to go offshore and change their operating base somewhere else in the world, NO USE OPERATING IN A COUNTRY WHERE THEY KNOW THEY WILL JUST GET BLOCKED OR MONITORED ‘BIG BROTHER STYLE’, which would crash the already pitiful economy of America, do you think the American economy stands a chance when giant companies started operating offshore ??
i mean, outside America,
- employees’ wages are lower(not slave wages as propaganda by the US government, that’s silly),
- employees’ benefits costs lower(insurance companies outside US doesn’t charge that much compared to their
American counterparts),
- Medical expenses outside US costs lower,
- other people in other countries aren’t that picky and demanding about their jobs(salary raise,more benefits,etc)
- everything costs cheaper outside US
- the government doesn’t keep bothering your company and employees
- there are no wall st. corporates that are hungry for your wealth
- everyone outside US goes to college to get an actual degree(engineering, architecture, IT, Accounting..etc… SPECIALIZED COURSES and not those completely useless popular ones like “english majors”, “history majors”, “poetry majors”, there are no such things in other countries,yeah you’ll really get a good paying job with that), and they do these directly after high school and graduate younger, since education is MUCH MUCH cheaper everywhere else
Sritha
Posted 123 days ago 146I’m not a US citizen, but this bill scares me. I don’t think that the US government has a right to enforce its laws on foreign websites; they have no jurisdiction for that. They should leave it to the foreign governments to deal with it by their own laws.
codfreak
Posted 123 days ago 143How will this affect playstation network and xbox live long term. truth is when things start innovating quickly people get scared and if we do this meaning pass sopa and pipa would it not give other counties an upper hand?
slytwyn
Posted 123 days ago 142i do not think the us government thought this through very well how many of millions of dollars is this going to cost out of the us citizens pockets for the government to investigate these web sites like the us and other countries arent having enough financial problems maybe they should sit back and think this through
RAUL
Posted 123 days ago 141KILL THE BILLS!!! SIMPLE AS THAT. WHO WOULD LIVE WITHOUT FACEBOOK, TWITTER, TUMBLR, YOUTUBE, GOOGLE, ETC. OH AND FOR THE US GOVERNMENT; THE BRANDS I MENTIONED ARE ALL REGISTERED NAMES AND COPYRIGHTED… SO DON’T SUE ME!
Junior
Posted 123 days ago 135We will not make a simple download from a Link in a host like megaupload without pay…or sites like this will be shuted out?
lala
Posted 123 days ago 133TNC
Luke
Posted 123 days ago 132”So, what are you in for?”
”I killed someone. What about you?”
”I drew a picture of Google’s logo for my school project…”
justbrowsing™
Posted 123 days ago 127I dont think they will go as far as to shut down youtube and similar sites-at the most,perhaps they will attempt a sophisticated automated file checking system that will not allow certain copyrighted content on these websites to be shown. I think they will simply stick to going after (trying to shut down) file sharing websites, and forcing internet companies to limit what their customers can and cannot browse. As this website already states, its simply pressure on the government mainly from one industry, the entertainment industry, and little else. Even if certain websites were blocked, I would guess that users with good computer knowledge may always find a way to “correct” any browsing limitations, even if brought on them from their ip/internet provider. Perhaps these websites wouldnt be used so much if the entertainment industry (usa or otherwise) wasnt a highly overpaid one, and the price of their products werent so high. As for the entertainment industry noting that the main purpose is to stop them losing money via users that frequently download copyrighted material, there have been many articles from mainstream newspapers that state that the industry is not losing as much as it believes-many users seem to download material purely out of habit that they would not purchase otherwise. Who knows where we will be regarding copyright in 10 years time.. will we one day be sued for lending music or movies to a friend? When entertainment executives and the most successful movie or music stars make far more money than a president or prime minister that supposedly helps run an entire country, you know something is wrong with that industry financially. Perhaps its the entertainment industry that needs new laws and limitations, not the other way around.
Ashley
Posted 123 days ago 124This is taking our rights away in the United States of America. This bill will just make the government have more power in what we do in our lives. This will harm businesses world wide. Google and Wikipedia will be no longer. I believe neither one of them to pass.
riley
Posted 123 days ago 123i hate this i will die with out these websites!
Hustlle
Posted 123 days ago 121FUCK YOU SOPA! FUCK YOU ALL.
lol
Posted 123 days ago 120I hope SOPA and PIPA get throught! Time for people to learn they can’t do what the hell ever they want in the net.
lolbackatu
Posted 123 days ago 125i am afraid that ain’t going to happen even if it pass. so dont have high hopes
Kelly
Posted 122 days ago 153Amen.
Pat
Posted 123 days ago 129thats just a dumb idea people on youtube make a living for using game plays from other games yes the company doesnt give them premission but they will let it happen its not quite illegal just tolerated this bill passing will effect alot of the web you wont be able to use google or any thing you would like to use for quick easy answears im pretty sure that would effect you so really think about it how much it will effect people google is a billion dollar industry and shutting that down will one loose jobs to make seraching the web that much onger plus obama already said that he WILL veto the sopa bill.
Junior
Posted 123 days ago 136You are wrong dude…with this law…you can’t even download a simple song…
you
Posted 123 days ago 138Shut up looks like no more stuff for you to your on facebook or any other sites everyone is so youll cry i bet ok goodbye
Jacinda
Posted 123 days ago 140I understand exactly where Jamal is coming from. If not for him I would not have understood what PIPA and SOPA. Thank you for informing me, and putting a lot of though and detail into it. So I completely comprehend the fact that the US government is doing what they think is right for themselves and for us citizens, but could you honestly tell me that you could imagine this world without use of Internet? I understand that way back in the olden days there was no usage of Internet whatsoever…But their lifestyles were COMPLETELY different from what ours is now, and what can we thank for that? The INTERNET. I mean we can’t always go to see our families who live in different states or countries can we? That is what YouTube is for, that is why we have Facebook, Myyearbook, Myspace, Video Chatting, Blog Sites, and whatever else site you can think of that has the capability to let you have friends and family on there. You know I want to say something to the person who commented ” I hope SOPA and PIPA get through! Time for people to learn they can’t do what the hell ever they want in the net.” You want to know the funny part if you think you are so intellectual and intelligent….If it wasn’t for the internet, you never even would have had a chance to post that in the first place. So go ahead and keep saying stuff that you know nothing about. When reading this article…you can’t just skim through it. Take the time to read it and understand exactly what he’s trying to say. How is it fair to the person who created the internet? All that hard work, ethic, and time he put into creating it…POOF…Gone just plain and simply gone. All the credit he got for it, would mean nothing now. If these acts go through, how would we have knowledge of things we strive to learn? Yes I understand there is school, the news, and politics, but a lot of what we hear isn’t completely true. The media has a way of twisting things around. Whose to say that they won’t get rid of cell phones next? What’s the difference right? It is a way to keep in contact with those closest to you…Your friends, your family, your boyfriend/girlfriend. I bet if it wasn’t for the internet you guys wouldn’t even know HALF the stuff that you know today. And don’t tell me you would because that’s a damn lie. We need to STOP our government from starting a controversy that will probably and most likely break out into chaos. For those of you who think your life would be better without the internet…Good for you, but if that’s the case, then why do you waste your time even posting something on this site? This Article isn’t meant to support PIPA and SOPA, it’s opposing it. So if you don’t like what we have to say (The truth), then go somewhere else. Just remember, as life proceeds so does technology, so why is it that they are just now taking away something that has been around for centuries. It’s like saying you’re going to take away water, electricity, food, cell phones. Those are all things we have learned to live with and have become adapted to doing. In all honesty I could live without the internet, but it would change my life in a dramatic way. To be truthful the internet’s really the only way I am able to stay in contact with my friends and family…Because I am always busy working I don’t have time to go see them. So if we lost internet, in a sense I would also be losing my family and friends. The sad thing is you guys don’t actually know and understand fully how serious this controversy is. We need to put a stop to it, and soon. So please when you read this take action and fight for what you believe in.
Michelangeo
Posted 123 days ago 144i totally disagree with you this bill would be the equivilent to turning the internet into a totalitarin nation, why you would think that this is crass and just pure ignorance. Do you want to lose almost every freedom you have on the internet? The people who do “What the hell ever they want in the net.” are the 0.1% of the internet. People who create websites like Wikipedia had no intention of copyright infringements they wanted to make information availibe to anyone who wants it. The SOPA is a horribly flawed and disgusting misuse of power in the US senate. The only reason they put this bill nto action is to keep them from the real issues.
To you sir…. if you want this bill to go through, you disgust me.
-Michelangeo
Rufus Macharia
Posted 123 days ago 119this will definitely kill innovation. At all cost the bill should be clashed. By the way their are the worst billionaires online(those big corporations).
SerbianDude
Posted 123 days ago 118Again USA thinks their law applies to entire world. How can one country in force its law over someone else’s? How can US sue lets say Russia and Russian based websites? If its based in Russia its is under laws that apply to that country, right? But I do know the reason, USA thinks they are a dog that can bark in someone else’s backyard and that it can pass. If your 2nd amendment gives you the right to bare gun that doesn’t mean you can carry it in other countries.
someone
Posted 123 days ago 128You speak from my heart!
Pat
Posted 123 days ago 130your right dude in the netherland there are no internet laws so how can the us just step in and ban them first all they can do it block the ip from getting past us lines but the goverment doesnt understand how easliy some one can over ride a smiple ip ban people willl find cracks and just find sneeky ways to get around it
Jamal
Posted 123 days ago 134Hi,
I think instead of saying USA, you should say US government. What your doing now is generalizing us all with a government filled with officials not everyone voted for. Granted some of us did, but there are many who did not.
The purpose of the bills is so that US companies can take legal actions against foreign based websites that are soliciting pirated material. Currently all they can do is put pressure on the native nation of said webistes, but that hasn’t worked out too well for them. See The Pirate Bay as an example.
What they’re aiming for is a way to target sites based off US soil, for infringing on copyright laws. I mean I can see that side of it, and there isn’t nothing wrong with that. The problem is how they plan on doing it and the very vague description of what infringement is in these doctrines.
Iyke Jacob (Nigeria)
Posted 123 days ago 117law should not be given any
room for existence; it
must be destroyed.. It should not
be given a second thought at all.
Junior
Posted 123 days ago 137I am sure You are right….this is just a bit of comunist at ours lifes
Daelynn
Posted 123 days ago 116*sigh* if this is passed, i am not going to pay for internet and neither should anyone else. What would I do if there was no facebook, or even no youtube? If this is passed, I’ll be saving about $25 because I am NOT paying for something I only get on for gaionline, youtube, and facebook for. They can kiss my booty
Kayla Reagan
Posted 123 days ago 131Stop thinking about yourself for once.Think of all the children around the world,like me, who play online games. They will be shutdown if this bill is passed. Please Protest. STOP SOPA AND PIPA NOW!
Softball5
Posted 123 days ago 113I have a question about something not covered in an articles I have seen and if anyone can give me an answer please do, my question is do these bills extend to the resale of merchandise such as clothing, electronics, appliances ect.? I have seen a list of big name companies such as famous clothing designers and electrionc producers so on and so fourth that are supporters of these bills and I have noticed that E-Bay, Craigslist and Amazon are on blacklists, I realize that these websites do sell copyrighted material such as music (which seems to be the focus of a lot of rants). Again I am just wondering if anyone can clear that up for me, thanks.
Micaela
Posted 123 days ago 112http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudiosi/2012/01/16/obama-says-so-long-sopa-killing-controversial-internet-piracy-legislation/
My sister just showed me this article explaining Obama’s stance on sopa, which looks like a plus. Now for pipa…
Anupam parajuli
Posted 123 days ago 111These two acts suck from the beginning to the very end..