The Industry seems to love having very slow weeks followed by very fast ones - I was planning a piece about the recent MetaCritic drama that's been going on, and you'll get that, just not today. Also on the boiler plate right now is something about the Battlefield 1943 suit that just got launched against EA. But today, we're going to talk about something a bit more serious, because it could ruin the Internet in America - today, we're talking about SOPA.
SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is in Congress as you read this, so you have a chance to do something about this. I'm going to drop some links at the bottom to help you email your senators and representative, and believe, after reading this, you're going to want to do just that.
Much like my DRM piece, I want to explain SOPA first, cause this is big, and important, and I want you to understand why. If you already know about SOPA, I'll see you in a few paragraphs.
So, SOPA is trying to stop piracy on the internet. The corporations of America that produce things that require copyrights decided they didn't like their IP being shown on the internet without their consent. To some of you smarties out there, you're thinking "But, Reactionist, sir, can't they just send a Cease & Desist letter and then go to court already?" You would be right, but they feel that the process takes too long, and costs too much money. They also run into some other stuff due to the nebulous nature of the 'Net and trying to say a website should or should not be governed by one country's laws or an other's. That's something I don't want to get into right now, since we're talking about SOPA, but suffice it to say that they have a reason for wanting a better process in place.
That's the problem we're trying to solve, and SOPA does it by doing what other countries have done - by putting the USA's internet in a bubble. If the server sending the site is located outside the country, it has to pass through a gate before anyone on the other side can view the site. It's a flawed idea because somebody has to be given the keys to the gate, and given human nature, the key-master will, at some level, be self-serving. SOPA also builds these gates between everyone on the inside of the bubble, so even more chances are presented to serve a separate interest from what the bill is trying to accomplish.
The biggest issue here, is who the key-master would be if this bill passed. SOPA gives the keys to the IP holders themselves. THAT IS THE WORST IDEA EVER. If you post something that uses another's IP on the internet, for whatever reason, be it charity, parody, or any other form of protected speech, if the IP holder doesn't like it, they can shut you down, without ever getting the government involved. Your guilt is assumed. And not just yours, but the your ISP's and the host's as well.
So, under SOPA, not only do you get fined and charged with a felony offense if a for-profit organization decides that you are misusing their intellectual property, but so does the company providing your internet (AOL, DirecTV, or Century Link, for example) as well as the company hosting your material (YouTube, Flickr, or Facebook, for example). The mere threat of litigation would shut these companies down, simply because being prosecuted under this law would be an even worse end.
The big kick in the junk is that the Internet has helped these companies become as big as they are today via exactly what they are trying to shut down. Without picture and video sharing websites like YouTube and Flickr, no one would become interested in the big upcoming video games because there would be no trailers to watch. Without social networking like Google+ and Facebook, no one would be creating ground swell support for a game that would slip under the radar otherwise, or horrible games like Call Of Juarez would go unlambasted and unridiculed as they deserve.
Anyone who uses any kind of IP-protected content in their job would no longer be able to do so, for fear of being sued. This means bloggers, video game reviewers, let's players, G4TV, parody videos, and many others, would all be out of a job. SOPA would add to our current economic problems by increasing the amount of unemployed in the United States.
Don't think the Industry would turn on us like this? Well, you're wrong. Nintendo of America, Sony Electronics, Electronic Arts, and the Entertainment Software Association (whose members include Capcom, Eidos, Epic, Konami, Microsoft, Sega, SCEA, SOE, Square Enix, Take-Two, and Ubisoft) have all signed a letter to Congress in support of SOPA. Don't let them get away with this! Write to your congressman or -woman and tell them to not support this bill! If we are not vocal, they will win and this bill will pass.
Find out who represents you in the House and the Senate
Email your representative about SOPA
Monitor SOPA's progress
There's no justice in using and deceiving people
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