SOPA and You: What it means for the Internet

James T Dabbagianwww.jtdabbagian.com

Photo by Nick Humphries, CC Some Rights Reserved

What is SOPA?

?

SOPA Stands for

StopOnlinePiracyAct

Photo by Nick Humphries, CC Some Rights Reserved

What does SOPA do?

Allows rightholders (e.g, Recording Labels, the MPAA and Artists) to issue a court order requiring ISPs to block websites that they feel violate their copyright.

Expands the offense to “(1) copyrighted work by digital transmission, [READ: Streaming Media] and (2) work intended for commercial dissemination by making it available on a computer network.”[1]

[1] Library of Congress, SOPA Bill Summary

Increases penalties for people found guilty of these infringements.

Who supports SOPA?Viacom RIAA MPAA News Corp 3M

PetMeds Electronic Arts Rolex Watch USA

Sony Electronics

Time Warner

The Walt Disney Company

NCAA Universal Music Group

Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.

Universal Music Group

Ultimate Fighting Championship

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Zippo Manufacturing Company

Zumba Fitness, LLC

Beachbody, LLC CBS Corporation

Bose Corporation

HarperCollins Publishers

Rite Aid

From Theories of Conspiricies: List of Major Companies Supporting SOPA.

Who opposes SOPA?Microsoft Twitter Facebook Google Reddit

Wikipedia WordPress AOL PayPal American Express

Zynga Craigslist eBay Discover Mozilla

HostGator deviantART Riot Games Grooveshark Daily Kos

Center for Democracy and Technology

Why is SOPA bad?SOPA’s text has several holes in it. These

holes can cause problems for websites.

According to the law itself, all a site has to be is a site aimed at U.S Users that either avoids confirming that it can be used to forsake copyright, or actively promotes infringement

In other words…If your site contains any

pirated content, or could be used to pirate, it could be

considered dedicated to U.S Property Theft

in the eyes of the government and the

rightsholders.

!

What does this mean to you?

Sites like Facebook and Youtube have lots and lots of content. A lot of it may

violate copyright.

All a rightsholder has to do is indicate this, and the entire site is shut down.

But I’m outside the US!

Doesn’t matter.

The site can still be blocked off by ISPs if you are found to be serving US Citizens, which can mean as much as

being in English!

No more Facebook.No more Youtube.

No more sites that could even POTENTIALLY be used for piracy.

This means if anyone claims anything on your blog or profile, your site is GONE.

Even if someone else uploads or links to pirated content, you can still be liable for criminal charges.

What can YOU do to stop this?

Photo by Patrick Gage

Take action!

Contact your representative and tell them you want SOPA opposed.

Click here to find out who YOUR representative is!

Vote out your representative

If your representative is in favor of SOPA, vote them out in the next election if you don’t agree with their other practices.

Click here for a list of representatives who support or oppose SOPA

Boycott SOPA supporters

It might be near-impossibly to boycott all of SOPA’s supporters, but not giving the supporters your money will send a strong message to them!

Click here for a list of companies that support SOPA!

Spread Awareness

Do you blog? Use Facebook or Twitter? Play an MMO? These are all viable places you can spread the word: OPPOSE SOPA!

Black out your site

On January 18th, sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit will black out their sites in protest of the bill. You can black out your site as well for 24 hours.

Don’t let SOPA Happen

We have a right to a free internet, don’t let corporations decide what

we can and cannot see!