How do you listen to music, or watch movies and television? In this digital age the most likely answer is the Internet. The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is a bill currently considered by Congress that gives the United States Attorney General the authority to target foreign and domestic entities (mainly websites) that pirate copyrighted material like movies, TV shows and music. If enacted, the bill would authorize U.S. entities to shut down these websites, which is a far leap beyond simply requesting that the content be removed.
Those involved in these creative industries (mainly music) have seen sales drop at a steady rate for the past decade—at least in terms of tangible product sales, which haven’t been completely absorbed into the realm of the “99 cents per download.” Because their works will be purchased and downloaded legally, this bill would essentially have a positive impact for the artists and the labels or studios that back them. But, the passage of SOPA has major consequences for even the average Internet consumer.
Many analysts and technology executives say this bill creates more damage than good by promoting censorship. For example, if a website sells a movie in violation of copyright, search engines like Google and Bing will be legally obligated to prevent their users from accessing the website. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, has publicly spoken out against the bill, stating that SOPA threatens free speech, in addition to similar institutions of censorship that exist in places such as China and Iran.
Brin, as well as stakeholders in tech-heavy companies such as Twitter, Flickr, Mozilla, Yahoo and YouTube wrote an open letter to Congress, urging them to reconsider the passage of SOPA.
The Stanford Law Review published an essay stating that SOPA could have “potentially disastrous consequences” for entrepreneurship and collaboration over the Internet.
YouTube would never have existed at all, nor would it be as popular as it is today if strict regulations like SOPA were in place a few years ago.
Internet piracy of music and movies is rampant regardless of age, but for college students, a limited budget and a thirst for culture almost encourage piracy and illegal sharing. Under SOPA, not only will this still be illegal, but websites found to be releasing pirated material—perhaps even their service providers—will be shut down and blocked from search engines.
This is absolutely the wrong way to address Internet piracy. Placing limitations on file sharing is both radically important and valid, but shutting down web domains without a trial by jury is unconstitutional.
Currently, the bill is at a standstill. Congress was set to vote on Dec 21, but a sudden delay led them to postpone discussion of the bill until they return from a recess. If you’re interested in joining the discussion, contact your state representatives.
Reach the columnist at aamentze@asu.edu
