Wikipedia is dark today in protest to the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate equivalent, the protect intellectual property act known as PIPA, in America.
These two acts are aimed at online piracy – anyone guilty of repeatedly streaming copyrighted content without permission could go to jail; any site judged to enable or facilitate online piracy could be shut down. The bills would allow the US government to go after foreign websites participating in or facilitating intellectual property theft. If you link to a site that has unlicensed content, your site could be shut down.
In its online statement Wikipedia says: “…these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet.”
Boing Boing has an even starker message: “…the US Senate is considering legislation that would certainly kill us forever.” Other sites that have joined the move include Mozilla, WordPress, Twitpic and ICanHasCheezBurger.
In the case of Richard O’Dwyer, the computing student is being extradited to the US on charges of linking to sites where users could download films without paying.
The bills have support from powerful groups in the entertainment industry. Rupert Murdoch is a supporter (which some might say hurts as much as it helps their cause). President Obama has come out vociferously against the bill.
What has people up in arms is the wide scope of the proposed laws and how they would leave sites with user-generated content open to extreme measures, resulting in a chilling effect on online publishing.
Read the reasoning from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which defends free speech, privacy and innovation, and it seems without a doubt that these bills are ill conceived:
“In addition to going after websites allegedly directly involved in copyright infringement, a proposal in SOPA will allow the government to target sites that simply provide information that could help users get around the bills’ censorship mechanisms. Such a provision would not only amount to an unconstitutional prior restraint against protected speech, but would severely damage online innovation.”
Have you heard about SOPA and PIPA? What do you think about the extradition of O’Dwyer on charges?
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Ruth
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
This is your response to #SOPA & #PIPA, the article doesn't even express an opinion.
Where is the explanation of how it can hurt bloggers and businesses? I'm sorry to say that this article is too little too late.
Britmums claim to lead the conversation but are trailing woefully behind in this one.
You could have been leaders here, you could have aligned yourself with a cause grounded in freedom of expression and the rights of the individual against the powers and interests of big business and corporations. The rights of the individual creator against globalisation and mass markets.
You could have blacked out your site and encouraged others to do so in solidarity.
Why not Britmums? Woefully ill informed or willfully neglectful?
Jennifer Howze
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for your comment. Rather than provide a long analysis, we've opted to provide a precis of the current issues with some links where people can find more information. Brits can't mobilise by contacting their senator or congressman as Americans can, so rather than supplying a call to action, we're encouraging debate and raising awareness.
HerMelness Speaks
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
Is it me, or is there a whiff of McCarthyism in the air?
The Breastest News
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
I saw the news report on the poor student, Richard O'Dwyer, just the other day and felt very sorry for him. He's a young enterpenuer trying to make some money in this world and get through Uni with no debts, I thought what he was doing was perfectly legal but it's all down to opinions by judges at the end of the day isn't it.
I heard the Wikipedia thing this morning on the radio but wasn't sure exactly what it was all about so thank you for clarifying that.
Jennifer Howze
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
It's an interesting case. If it were just a straight illegality case I'd have to give the issue a lot more thought. For example, there are some very heinous types of online content that are illegal (eg child pornography) and if people link to those, they should be punished and jailed.
But these bills cast such a wide net they could affect folks who aren't even aware they are doing something wrong.
It sounds like O'Dwyer knew what he was doing but jailtime for that kind of action is not proportional.
Jerry Gentry
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
Thye should be focusing on strengthening copywrite laws not on attacking symptoms. Of course, doing the right thing is harder work.
Jennifer Howze
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
You said it. Why do it the right way, when they can do it the easy, knee-jerk way?
Michelloui
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
This is completely crazy. I can't see the benefit of this at all. The beauty of the internet is all the free content (willingly put there). I definitely understand the need and desire to protect copyright material, but to do so by slaying a huge swathe of legitimate use would turn the internet into something very different, and not as wonderful.
Thanks for highlighting and explaining this; I hadn't heard about it until now.