For those not familiar with this:
Wikipedia:
"The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who requests the court orders, the actions could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 pieces of music or movies within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement."
On the surface, I don't really have much of a problem with the bill. The penalties provided for are WAY, WAY out of proportion to the offense (and that I do have a problem with), but the bill itself seems to be intended as an attempt to curb what has become a real problem in the music, film, television, software, and publishing industries. This bill does not seem to me to be an attempt to "extort" money from internet companies; there are a lot more effective (and scarier) ways to do that if that's the intention.
I consider that the bill was introduced by a conservative Republican, and the current Reps seem to be severely allergic to any government action that doesn't do one of two things. SOPA does not do the first of those two: pander shamelessly to their fringe base. I can't help but think it must be the other one then: pander shamelessly to big business. SOPA seems to me to be protectionist legislation designed to show these big corporate donors who have been freaking out like Ann Coulter at a Phish concert over online piracy that Congress is doing something. Whether or not online piracy is really severely hurting these industries is not the issue (although in my opinion the data shows pretty conclusively that it is....badly), what matters is the fact that these huge, multi-billion dollar politically active businesses believe that online piracy is hurting them. So Congress jumps into "action."
As I said, on the surface, I'm not too worried about SOPA.....on the surface. Online piracy of intellectual property is a significant, growing problem today with the real potential to kill a lot of things we love like huge, expensive Hollywood movies, blockbuster games, books, and music. If the creators and producers of these things can not be reasonably expected to be compensated for their creative efforts and fiscal investment, they will simply stop doing it. Would Stephen King have written "The Stand" if he had to work full time as an English teacher in a Bangor high school because he couldn't make a living as a writer? Maybe, but it would have taken him a hell of a lot longer and what publisher would invest in the production and distribution of the book even if he did write it? ID studios changed the gaming world with DOOM!, but if when it first came out (I know it's been massively pirated since then, but I'm talking when it was new) it was simply copied and pirated, ID studios would have collapsed into bankruptcy and there would have been no DOOM 2, or HALO, or Half Life, because it would have been demonstrated that you couldn't actually make any money programming video games.
We're already seeing the effects of this with intrusive and annoying DRM on games and I'm sure I'm not the only one that noticed Hollywood is very, very, very reluctant to make any film that they are not already 100% certain will make a 100 million dollars in the first month just so they can absorb the financial hit from the inevitable piracy. This has resulted in "The Hangover 2," a near carbon copy of the first film, and TWO movies released at almost the same time with the exact same plot. ("Friends With Benefits" and " No Strings Attached.") We get asinine Michael Bay action pics with more CGI than story and asinine gross-out comedies because studios can no longer afford to take on a chance on an edgy or independent film anymore. The number of movie studios that can survive a flop can be counted on one hand, and while online piracy is not the sole cause of that, it is a contributing factor, and the only contributing factor that the industries believe they can act on.
But even though I understand where SOPA is coming from, and (as a writer myself) I am somewhat sympathetic to the intent of the bill (protecting intellectual property from online piracy), I do take some issues with it. The penalties proposed are ridiculous. 5 years in jail for 10 songs? Really? ("Hey, buddy. What're ya in for?" "I downloaded a Lady Gaga album." "You an' me gonna be friends. You sure got a pretty mouth.....") There is no real method of enforcement. No one has ever figured out how to police or regulate the 'Net. I'm pretty trying it would be like trying to empty the Atlantic Ocean with a sieve. I just don't see how SOPA will do anything to deal with the issue of online piracy. It's already illegal, SOPA just makes it more illegal and makes it easier for the Justice Department to take action against people who download illegally obtained material. (You know, because going after the consumer of an illegal product is always the most effective way to end the traffic, right? That's worked out really well in the "war on drugs," hasn't it?)
Online piracy is a significant problem, but it's not going to be solved by some magic legislation from Washington. it will be solved when the industry pulls its head out of its collective ass and develops some non-intrusive, effective form of DRM that doesn't automatically treat every legitimate user like a scumbag pirate. In its current form, DRM is like a really suspicious assistant principal watching your every goddamn move, just waiting for you to slip up even a little. Huh. Whaddayknow. Current DRM is the digital Ed Rooney. Agent Rooney of the Matrix. Be afraid. Be very afraid. In its current form DRM is bullshit, and the data industries better learn that and figure out how to do it right before Congress does more stupid, useless shit like SOPA.
And I haven't even touched on the potential for abuse in SOPA, which is extreme. Piracy is a problem, yes, but putting censorship powers in the hands of government and corporations is NOT the answer.
So while I understand and am sympathetic to the (surface) intentions of SOPA, it is such a badly thought-out piece of pandering shit legislation that I could never support it.