A piece of legislation is winding its way through the congress that online activists say threatens the spread of information via the Internet.
The act is called the Stop Online Privacy Act. The purported intent of the act is t crack down on unauthorized copying of content, which is something that the Internet has enabled. It is extremely easy to copy and share content. The act give federal authorities wide ranging powers to issue court orders against websites suspected of enabling the infringement of copyrights.
The act is designed to prevent piracy of copyrighted content and the trafficking of such content on the Internet.
But activists say that that they are concerned about its implications for online freedom of speech.
Sharing of Content on the Internet
There is certainly no doubt that sites such as Youtube and other content sharing sites have facilitated the sharing of online content. Youyube is used extensively by educators and many hobbyists who have no intention of pirating content, but rather sharing their favorite TV, movie clips, and music with others.
Activists opposed to the act are concerned that these people are being lumped in with those who are trying to profit from the works of others.
While a site like Youtube may be able to fend off court orders, smaller sites that post content for non-commercial use may not be so likely. Activists opposed to the legislation, such as the Electronic Freedom Foundation says that federal authorities will go after those entities that facilitate payment for sites that provide content.
In a statement, the Foundation says,
“If an IP rightsholder thinks you meet the criteria and that it is in some way harmed, it can send a notice claiming as much to the payment processors (Visa, Mastercard, Paypal etc.) and ad services you rely on. Once they get it, they have 5 days to choke off your financial support. “
But activists are trying to get the word out and fight back.
The Fight Against SOPA
Activists are using a variety of tactics to express their dissatisfaction with the proposed legislation. A number of content sharing sites are putting a black “censored” strip over their sites to dramatize what they think will happen if SOPA passes.
A number of petitions are circulating online to present to congress. Sites are also encouraging people to write their congress members.
Activists are also encouraging a boycott of the GoDaddy domain registration site. GoDaddy has gone public in its support of SOPA.
Activists are encouraging people to move theirs sites off of GoDaddy. But technology writer Mike Masnik writes on Techdirt, that the bill would actually harm GoDaddy as the company “doesn't seem to realize that under the bill's broad definitions GoDaddy itself is a ‘site dedicated to the theft of US property’. In other words, supporting SOPA would not be in GoDaddy’s best interests.
These activists are hoping the these activities will halt what they see as one of the essential characteristics of the Internet and what makes it so valuable to people.
Sources:
- Electronic Freedom Foundation (October 28. 2011). Hollywood finally gets a chance to break the Internet.
- Masnik, M. (October 1, 2011)..GO DADDY supports E-PARASITE legislation even though its own site is dedicated to theft of property under terms of bill. Techdirt.
Jon Pike - Pike is a Ph.D. in communication and writes about activism and popular culture topics for Suite101.
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