What is the SOPA Act and why should you care?

I hope this image does not have copyright.

For some time now we have been hearing about the SOPA  (Stop Online Piracy Act) law, a bill introduced in October 2011 which aims to combat illegal downloading of copyrighted content uploaded to the Internet(in theory) .

That is, all your favorite series, which you download to your computer or just go online via a website, including music and electronic books, all that will be removed from the Internet along with a blocked site that hosts it.

So why is it bad that this law does not allow me to consume illegal content?

Well, this is a good question. And I will not defend the use of illegal content, but I will not be against it. I’ve seen that many are in favor because they can not ‘share’ links and that threatens Internet freedom. Reason I find it quite selfish and less thought off.

In that sense it is not advocating piracy used for entertainment purposes only, but also against it because thanks to piracy, many teachers and disadvantaged students can access highly educational content, who could not otherwise access it in a normal way.

SOPA law should be concerned just for illegal downloads ?

Not really, that is only the most superficial part of the subject. What is important is that all sites can be blocked by copyright laws, that will affect the foundation of the Internet, global connectivity and communication. Here are three important reasons:

- Less net initiatives: By having SOPA become Internet vigilantes, many “startups” or projects will not receive financial support from any investment by the fear of being locked at any time, which would result in the loss of capital, time and opportunities for entrepreneurs.

- Goodbye to Facebook, Twitter and social networks: As the SOPA law has the power to block any copyrighted content uploaded by users or site owners, all community-based websites with lot of content uploaded by millions will suffer suffer a type of blockade because it would inevitably be housed by copyrighted content. In other words, social networks will die fast and efficient communication with loved ones, friends and even distant contacts.

- Infringe on freedom of expression: Say a citizen reporter uploads a video to Youtube to report news about something or someone decides to raise journalistic content from somewhere far away to hear about a terrible event it could be blocked.

If a journalist writes an article which, while is not violating copyrights, but links to a Youtube video or a website that is not well seen by SOPA, it would be blocked. The media should be subject to self-censorship to avoid problems, citizen journalism will crash into a wall.

But this only affects the United States, right?

Ehrmm … Yes and no. The issue is that most Internet web sites are hosted in the U.S. and have domains there, which makes them subject to this law. In other countries the issue would not be very different for the following reason.

“(…) Peru is negotiating the famous Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) which also includes a chapter on copyright on the Internet with a logic similar to SOPA and PIPA. The United States being the main promoter of free trade agreements and multilateral treaties such as the TPPA is very likely that if it manages to pass PIPA and SOPA these will affect both the implementation of NAFTA as the negotiation of the TPPA. Adjustments, settings but, if you import the DMCA why not PIPA and SOPA? “Says the lawyer Oscar Montezuma in charge of telecommunications law.

Conclusion

As I wrote above, the SOPA law in principle does not seem bad, I really think it is defending something just. However, I think that it should first be clear what kind of content will be illegal to avoid conflicts, all of this if we consider that this initiative has been driven largely by the industries of film and music through the U.S. Congress. Why? For a while they claim they are losing money due to piracy.

They could offer online services as a whole, as was done with Apple’s iTunes or what Spotify offers, however, the issue is that every record label wants the biggest piece of the cake, a fact that does not help with collaboration from industries. But that is another issue. Finally, one should add that behind this law there are millions of dollars at stake from lobbying groups.

I hope I have helped a little in understanding the SOPA law, that will take place on January 24th so keep your fingers crossed!

Tags: Blockade Copyright Laws Disadvantaged Students Educational Content Electronic Books Entertainment Purposes Fear Global Connectivity Good Question Illegal Content Illegal Downloading Including Music Initiatives Internet Connectivity Internet Freedom Internet Vigilantes Piracy Social Networks Startups Uploaded