Controversial SOPA & PIPA Anti-Piracy Bills Shelved for Now, Thanks to Internet Outcry & Unprecedented Website Blackouts, 162 Million People Saw Wikipedia’s Blackout Page
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 27, 2012
Wikipedia's blackout page posted on January 18, in response to and in protest of Congress's anti-piracy SOPA & PIPA bills, was seen by more than 162 million people
The antipiracy legislation of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) was the most closely followed news topic last week among Americans ages 18 to 29, per a newly released Pew Research Center poll.
The controversial, vaguely written, power-grabbing congressional bills have been halted in their tracks, following a titanic outcry from American citizens and highly publicized website blackouts at Wikipedia and many other popular Internet sites.
Countless phone calls from voters to the politicians in DC, online petitions, TV and radio news, headline stories and commentaries in print and on the ‘net — the outcry and outrage was deafening. Congress didn’t know what had hit them. Power to the people…
However, the SOPA and PIPA bills aren’t stone-cold dead.
Reported by New York Times, Big Victory on Internet Buoys Lobby:
The unlikely coalition of companies and consumer groups that last week helped quash antipiracy legislation on Capitol Hill is now weighing the future of what might be called lobbying 2.0. Can the Internet industry, along with legions of newly politicized Web users, be a new force in Washington? And if so, what else can they all agree upon?
If labor unions once amplified the legislative agenda of certain American industries, the antipiracy fight showed the potential power of a different force: young Americans who live and breathe the Internet.
A Pew Research Center poll this week found that the antipiracy legislation was the most closely followed news topic among Americans under the age of 30; even news of the presidential elections failed to get as much attention in this age group.
YouTube summary of video below on the legislative language of SOPA and PIPA:
Last week, the Internet clearly showed that it did not support the SOPA/PIPA bills that were before Congress. As a result of the Web blackout, Washington listened and put a delay on the bills. The topic, however, is still gaining attention.
According to intellectual property attorney Miles Feldman, the “drama is still being written.” As someone who has personally been involved with litigation involving the Black Eyed Peas, Will Smith, and others, he told us that he supported the overall purpose of SOPA and PIPA because online piracy is a serious problem. He, however, did not support the language of the bills due to their lack of clarity, which is why he is also concerned about the Anticounterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that is sparking interest of late.
As he explained to us, finding a balance between freedom of speech and intellectual property rights is an ongoing and challenging battle. That said, he doesn’t believe that these proposals serve as effective solutions.
He told us that he would like to see the entertainment industry and the Internet community come together to create a new Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that embraces the concept of SOPA/PIPA but that has a clause that eliminates a safe harbor for companies that are complying with the law.
Interview: Intent of SOPA/PIPA Was Good, But Language Was Bad, Says Attorney Miles Feldman
From The Bottom Line, Internet Blackout Halts SOPA/PIPA:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Read (D-NV) called off the vote on the Protect IP Act last Friday following protest, stating that the bill needs further discussion.
Thousands of sites, including Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and Craigslist, joined the virtual protest against PIPA as well as the Stop Online Piracy Act last Wednesday, encouraging some members of Congress to abandon their support of the bills.
Over 162 million people saw Wikipedia’s black layover on its English edition, informing users about the legislation. Google simply blacked out its logo and linked to a page with information and a petition against the bills. Other sites, such as Reddit, Craigslist, BoingBoing, Wired, Mozilla and thousands of others protested in similar ways.
In addition to these well-known sites, thousands of individual users participated. According to BlackoutSOPA.com, over 70,000 people added their anti-SOPA/PIPA badges to their Twitter, Facebook and Google+ avatars and profile pictures. While Twitter itself did not blackout, users made 2.4 million tweets relating to SOPA. Tumblr gave its users the option to blackout their blogs for the day.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a wall post against SOPA and PIPA, writing, “We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet’s development.” The message received over 490,000 “likes” since it was posted.
Both SOPA and PIPA intend to protect the intellectual property rights. It intends to target foreign “rogue” sites, which sell counterfeit goods, by giving the Justice Department authority to halt payment services and block DNS (domain name service) to sites if they do not remove offending content within five days. This means that if you were to type in the URL of a blocked site, browsers would be made to act as if it weren’t there. PIPA also includes provisions to allow domain name seizure in some circumstances.
From The Inquirer, EMI boss speaks out against SOPA’s methods:
A vice president at record label EMI has spoken out on ‘anti-piracy’ plans detailed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the US, saying “the method they’re using is incorrect”.
According to Torrent Freak, EMI’s VP of Urban Promotions Craig Davis said that he’s not fan of digital rights management (DRM), and that ‘piracy’ is a service issue, not an issue about money.
Davis was apparently speaking from a personal perspective when said that the two pending anti-piracy bills were not the way forward. He said, “Personally, I feel that the method they’re using is incorrect. All it will do is cause headaches and issues for everyone.”However, although he opposes PIPA and SOPA, he does think ‘piracy’ is a problem. He thinks this problem can be better solved within the music industry itself.
“I do believe that a person should be compensated for their work. I feel that piracy is a big issue, and things like Spotify will assist in combating this problem,” he said.
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Excellent post!
We must fight this tyranny of the Obama government.