Why we need to oppose SOPA

Details: Category: Your Opinion is Wrong; Published on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 04:43; Written by Tom Z

SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is causing a major stir in Hollywood and among Internet advocates. Yet the law is still misunderstood by the general public. I think most people make the mistake of looking at the name and inferring the meaning of the law, but that can be dangerous. After all, you can name a law anything. SOPA mentions piracy in its name, but it has little to do with stopping true piracy. It’s mostly a play for the government to gain regulatory power over the Internet. It’s like if I submitted a bill to Congress called the “Fairness and Equality For All Act” which briefly mentioned something about equality and then went on for 45 pages about how Jessica Alba should have sex with me. It’s a selfish ploy for me to get something I can’t get on my own. And that’s what it appears Hollywood and the government are doing; using piracy as an excuse to get people to pay for awful content and cede control of the Internet to the government.

Regardless of how you feel about online piracy, it’s important that everyone understand the ins and outs of this important issue. Earlier today, I spoke with someone who is very familiar with the entertainment industry and SOPA, and here’s what he told me:

“What SOPA would essentially do is shut down any website showing copyrighted content. For example, a site like YouTube would currently receive a warning if it were found to be displaying copyrighted material. But under SOPA, one user could post a copyrighted video and the whole site could be shut down. Despite containing the inklings of a good intention, i.e. stopping piracy and saving jobs in the entertainment industry, SOPA is an enormous overreach that would grant immeasurable control over the once-free Internet to the U.S. government, which time after time has proven itself incapable of such a monstrous task. The Internet thrives on its openness, and grants us the brightest example of free speech that one could possibly hope to achieve. Government intervention in the Internet would only serve to limit our First Amendment Rights and ensure that this once-great democracy heads further down the path to totalitarianism. And let us not allow Hollywood to be free of blame either. I for one place the blame of piracy squarely on the shoulders of the entertainment industry. Perhaps instead of pushing for added legislation, television networks and film studios would be better served by focusing on the creation of unique, quality content. The American movie-going public has become so disillusioned with high-budget, low-IQ filth like Transformers that it no longer sees the value in paying for movies. On the TV side of things, instead of remaking Home Improvement and force-feeding us lowest-common-denominator reality shows, networks need to pay greater attention to their content. As Showtime’s business model clearly proves, people will still pay for quality original programming, if only such a thing were available in greater abundance. Furthermore, when successful and forward-thinking companies like Google, Wikipedia and Microsoft all oppose SOPA so vehemently, it really makes one wonder what merit the bill could possibly hold.”

When his explanation ended, there was only one way I could respond. I told him, “hey buddy, I just came into this Blockbuster to use the ATM, I don’t want to hear your insight on legal cases. Now get me some Raisinets!”