Intellectual piracy has long been the bane of the publishing and entertainment industry. No sooner than a hit comes out, than someone is distributing it on the sly to other interested parties. As with the movie and music industries, writers have a vested interest in supporting copyright laws and anti-piracy efforts. So why then hasn't the publishing industry jumped on the Stop Online Piracy Act bandwagon with all the fervor of a rabid dog?
The constraints of the U.S. judicial system may be one issue. Technology has long proven its ability to outpace the monolithic legislative process, especially in recent decades. The ability to steal intellectual property has changed so fast, and continues to evolve on a daily basis, that there is no possible way to forecast possible piracy options. Few politicians are technologically savvy and therefore must rely on reports of current and past technology in order to mandate responses against it. Unfortunately, those responses come far too late to prevent advances in pirating techniques and technologies, which further complicate and frustrate the issue.
Another issue may be the way the current bill is worded. Many interpretations allege the bill is merely a vehicle for internet censorship, allowing any one complaint to bring down an entire website without due process. The biggest example of this in recent times was the "Dump GoDaddy Day." The internet registrar has a long history of poor customer service, shutting down domains without investigating complaints or notifying domain owners, so when owner Bob Parsons' voiced his support of SOPA, the backlash hit GoDaddy hard. Incensed over the internet registrar's avowed SOPA support, customers voted with the dollars by abandoning the registrar in droves. Bob Parsons and GoDaddy have become the posterchildren for anti-SOPA protests and the recent internet blackouts. The protests have even been felt in Washington, D.C., where political support has cooled on the start of election season. Politically speaking, there's not a lot to be gained by keeping SOPA alive only to lose one's voting block in the process.
In my not-so-expert opinion, SOPA feels more like a kneejerk "let's just take the baseball and go home" reaction rather than a well-reasoned approach to the problem. Those who wrote it threw everything in the crock pot, mixed it around a bit, and proclaimed it stew. If I'm to be fair, though, lawmakers have long been under fire to re-legislate the copyright laws, to include rules for dealing with digital domains, and to protect the rights of artists and publishers alike. There are a lot of people with a stake in this particular debate. Even different industries want different things from an anti-piracy law. When you consider that even writers and publishers cannot seem to agree on what should constitute an anti-piracy bill, it seems impossible that a group of 535 politicians (senators and congresspeople) can agree on the subject.
Without a comprehensive reading of the bill—and a legal degree—it's hard to say whether SOPA will succeed in stopping online piracy without pulling the rug of free speech out from underneath us. The bill is frustrating because it is both broadly worded and strictly limiting at the same time. If passed, its constitutionality will likely be challenged by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.
Keep in mind, though, that striking down a law takes years of court proceedings and there is never any guarantee that the courts will agree with the lawsuit.
Don't wait until after SOPA becomes law to make your opinion known. Don't let any third party sway your opinion. Decide for yourself whether or not you support SOPA. Read the bill over. Discuss the issue with your colleagues. Write your senators and congresspeople, and tell them how you would like them to vote. Exercise your constitutional rights and make a difference in an industry that is near and dear to all our hearts.
The text of SOPA (the House bill) can be found here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3261ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3261ih.pdf
The text of PIPA (the Senate bill) can be found here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/text
