The End of the Internet Superhighway

By Anthony Pilloud
Contributing Writer

Internet piracy has been one of the most significant and steadily increasing political and financial issues of our Web-based culture and times. All forms of media are at risk. Surprisingly, the real question has next to nothing to do with the real act of piracy itself, bu t how far politicians will go to protect what they believe is the real issue? Answer: The Stop Online Piracy Act is precisely how far they will go.

SOPA (H.R. 3261) has been a hot topic for some time now, and if you are still left in the dark about it then it’s high time you pushed that rock off from over you and see the light. The intent of SOPA is to stop illegal downloading of copyrighted material, which, as admirable as it may sound, will come with detrimental side effects. SOPA and its supporters are attempting to blacklist Internet sites known to assist with Internet piracy and effectively remove them from American Internet accessibility entirely. Search engines will be forced to block them or make them otherwise inaccessible as well as any other site they deem to be infringing on the law. All will be utterly removed from sight.

What this means is that the United States Government will have the power to control our Internet in precisely the same fashion that the Chinese Government controls theirs. Quite literally, if this bill is passed, our government would be exchanging our freedoms and rights in favor of corporate greed. Any website that shares media in this fashion (including Youtube, Hulu, Vimeo, etc.) will no longer exist. Anyone who shares media from sites deemed unworthy will no longer be able to. In fact, they themselves may be suspect to copyright infringement enforcement. This includes Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Youtube accounts, or Blogspots and blogpages. Anything from posting a personal cover of your favorite song to just posting a link to that song will get you, personally, in trouble. Say goodbye to any form of fair use.

The list of supporters for the bill should be evidence enough. What started as a cavalcade of corporations has steadily decreased as time has gone on; the massive public outcry and thousands of emails, letters and phone calls to congress have made their mark. Go Daddy’s initial public support has since switched, as well as both Sony and Nintendo entertainment. All three, once SOPA supporters, have since changed their opinion on the bill due to both consumer responses and a closer inspection at the full consequences of SOPA (as well as substantial rumors that Anonymous threatened to hack Sony once again if they did not augment their stance).

Those still in support, however, should come as no surprise. The Motion Picture Association of America has been an advent supporter (their views on related matters have been a topic of much scrutiny for ages), as well as Disney, L’Oreal (for reasons unknown) and the Concerned Women for America (an organization with more than their fair share of prejudice against both non-religious groups and the homosexual community). A full list of the offenders can be found at http://tiny.cc/SOPAsupporter.

Despite the waves of online protest and the decreasing support for the bill, the folks at the top refuse to back down. If the House has its SOPA, than the Senate needs its PIPA. The Protect IP Act has come along like a knife in the dark, taking the place of SOPA as the majority of public attention is drawn to PIPA instead. Both bills threaten the Internet community by censorsing the web via Government control. Both blatantly trade Constitutional rights in favor of corporate greed. The White House has attempted to alleviate concerns with public statements, but it still doesn’t change what the bill itself can do if left unchecked: http://tiny.cc/WhiteHouseSOPA. SOPA supporters are backing off, but there is much work to be done: http://tiny.cc/SOPAontherun.

When corporations as large and powerful as Nintendo and Sony back down almost exclusively because of consumer outcry, we can see that “we the people” honestly do have the power to make a difference. The internet and the online community itself has made it possible to for us to counter government control. Let’s make sure we keep it that way.

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