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You may’ve noticed Wikipedia has gone black today, to protest against something called SOPA. Hell, you might’ve even noticed Reddit joining in on the fun, too. But before you start thinking the world’s thrown in the hygiene towel and is protesting against soap — learn these valuable facts about the US law, which could end up affecting us all. Yes, even us Brits.
SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a piece of legislation that aims to help protect content companies against piracy. It’s currently working its way through the US Congress, which just like our government, gives Acts a period of review before they become law. It’s partnered with a second act that is currently in the US Senate called the Protect IP Act (or PIPA for short). Both cutesy names; both with the power to inflict some dire consequences on the internet as we know it.
The major problem with SOPA isn’t what it’s set out to try and do, but the way it’s been implemented. At its heart it will allow intellectual property owners — the TV and movie studios as well as record labels – to just pull the plug on sites they think they have a copyright claim against. Unfortunately it’s not just limited to the US either; they can block international sites too just as easily.
It’s not even just the type of ISP blockade that we’ve seen in the UK revolving around Newzbin either. Scarily, the act could allow content owners to demand Google remove the offending site from its index; to order PayPal to stop accepting payments to or from the site, or even US-based advertisers to pull ads from the site — essentially cutting it off at the knees. Considering quite a few of the services we rely on and enjoy in Britain are actually run from the US, this could cause serious issues for us Brits, even though SOPA isn’t a UK law.
One of the most shocking things about SOPA is the simple disregard for due process it’ll allow. Content owners won’t need to go to court, or even just get a judge to sign it off. Right now we’re going through that kind of mess here in the UK, but at least you still need a court order to get an ISP to block a site.
If SOPA passes, all an IP owner would need to do is send a letter to his company of choice in the US — be it Google, PayPal, the ISP, even Visa or MasterCard — and have it claim a “good faith belief” that the target site in question has infringing content on it. The recipient of said “belief” would have just five days to either comply with the order, or challenge it in court — not exactly a cheap option. As it stands now, all that can already be accomplished in US law without SOPA, but the content owner needs to get a court order first, just like they do here in the UK.
Unfortunately it gets worse. A provision in the bill called the “vigilante provision” gives broad immunity to any provider who proactively shutters sites it considers to be infringers. In essence it means that the MPAA, or anyone else like that, could just publish a list of “infringers” to get the whole lot blacklisted. One button press and pop goes the internet.
SOPA also includes an “anti-circumvention” clause, which could have a serious impact on your daily life. For one, if you happened to mention an infringing link, video, or torrent on a site or service you happen to use, the said service would be legally obliged to remove it. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Tumblr, YouTube, you name it — everywhere on the web that has feet in the US is at risk. The trouble is that if the service du jour decides that’s nuts and it’s not going to abide by the clause, it faces “enjoinment” with the US government that can and will be used to shut it down.
Frankly, the cost of actually policing that for a service, even for the big guys, would be astronomical. Can you imagine a start-up being able to afford that? Hell no, which could mean start-ups would either be killed off with a quick few blips of a link, or will have to censor every user heavily from the get-go. Who’s going to use a service that essentially censors you out of all enjoyment?
Better yet. What happens when that small site that you use to store your deepest innermost thoughts, photos and videos gets an anti-circumvention shut down notice? It’s not going to have the collateral to fight it, and poof – your digital self is erased off the internet.
The funny thing, or sad, depending on how you look at it, is that it’s not even going to do what it set out to do, which is to kill off non-US-based IP infringers like The Pirate Bay. They’ve been fighting this kind of draconian technical and legal blockade for ages. They’re not based in the US; not funded by US sources, and frankly, don’t give a hoot what America does. The US might as well be firing a mini-gun at a virus. You’re never going to put it down that way.
Besides, America already has the notorious Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), with which the same takedown system can be achieved – we’ve all come across “this video has been removed” messages after a DMCA infringement on a US video site, so you know it works.
Even though SOPA is an ill thought-out, ludicrously powerful, terrifically terrible bit of legislation, it still has a significant chance of making it into US law. That’s why we’re getting hit with the site blackouts, and every Tom, Dick and Harry is complaining about it (including yours truly). If the sane and intelligent people in the US don’t do something about this, with the help of the international community (that’s you by the way), SOPA could get approved and your internet lives could be at risk.
So the big question is: why should we, the Great British public, care about some stupid American law? Well, hopefully the threat of having your online life cut off and your favourite America-based services at best gimped, at worst shut down, is enough to show you that you should care.
But if that isn’t enough, you wait till this passes. Given our track record as America’s bitch, with extraditions and US law being imposed on our own soil, how long do you think it’ll take the immense pressure from the lobbying content creators to force the hand of our dear PM and his government into implementing something similar here? Then it really will be game over.
For more information on SOPA, the potential effects, protests and US perspective, check out our American cousin’s coverage here.
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Been doing it all day…
Glad you wrote this article, will enlighten more English readers to the problem we are all facing.
“I must remember to pick up some milk and bread on the way home. Also pop into the pharmacy for Fathers drugs. The cars MOT is due on Friday and boiler needs a service. The VAT return needs sorting out and I have got staff asking if they can have a loan as January is a long month. Unemployment went up again and the economical outlook seems to get worse day by day. Christ I wish life was a bit easier …”
“… Sorry … Did you say something about being enlightened regarding some internet thing we are all facing? Excuse me if I seem preoccupied with real problems, I am facing.
… Sorry… why bother to come onto a site, that is after all primarily technology focused, if you have so many other problems in life which are preoccupying you?
This isn’t just about being able to access a few sites, this is about freedom of speech; what would you do if all the sites that allowed you to come on and bitch about how hard your life is, were shut down due to this legislation?
I’m also quite astounded that you see basic, everyday tasks such as shopping, as such a problem. I’d suggest that you see someone before you have a total meltdown when asked to get something that isn’t on your list….
Dear Commenter, as you will have no doubt read and understood (wink) I consider the act of buying bread and milk far more pressing to ones life than the future of the interweb. Perhaps you could call it intuition. Some may even call it gambling. The point was express my lack of concern.
I’m sorry to learn that you are astounded by my inability to perform everyday tasks and I hope you manage to keep hold of your freedom of speech, as you seem quite determined and I bet you love all things free.
Chin up now, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think … or is it? Hahahahhahhohoohohhahahahhahahaohohohohahah… fade and cut …
You Tool.
Oh please, name calling?
You’ve obviously had a rather stressful day; go and find some way of venting that doesn’t mean coming onto a site to bitch at strangers.
Fair enough, you lack concern about this bit of legislation, which is perfectly acceptable and is your right. I didn’t say it wasn’t. If you have a problem with free speech, feel free to go somewhere that doesn’t allow it. China, a few North African countries and maybe a handful in the Middle East would probably suit your requirements.
Just because you don’t perceive something to be a “problem” doesn’t mean that everyone else should forget about it. Or do you think that Giz should only write articles that you have personally vetted?
Maybe some of us think of about the future of everyone and not just ourselves? You seem to be far more concerned with bitching to commenter’s than anything else.
Also if you are worried about the state of unemployment why don’t you look into how many jobs have been created since the web began? Or get a better education so you can be a valued employee.
I’m sure your bank would loan you the money to take out an open university course, I would advise in checking to see what industry’s have a higher demand for employees so not to waste the banks money.
If things get to much for you the Samaritans are always there to listen.
I’m glad I bring some light into your otherwise dismal little life.
I do so hope that your despair doesn’t drive you to anything silly. That would be a shame.
My freedom is far more important than your cars MOT, that happens to be destroying my planet.
I understand we all got things going down that are important, but in a few years from now when corporations are telling you what to do and how to do it, and infringing on your daily freedom of online activity, then don’t cry foul if you are happy to look the other way today.
In the time you wrote the above you could have messaged 100 people to be aware of the issue, so I don’t presume that you don’t have the time to be responsible in relation to this.
Did you girls all get your periods today? Full Moon perhaps? I know, It’s just armchair activism isn’t it?
I would like 500 words on how you are going to preserve freedom of speech, save the net and restore balance to the free world…. and no cheating, you can’t use Wikipedia. It has to be all your own work. Now chop chop.
Whay! Name calling and sexist remarks; all we need now is some racism and xenophobia.
Yes very funny, your clearly a very mature and clever person…
Speaking out against it is a start, if we all just sat down all day and did nothing it wouldn’t be long before more liberties are taken away.
With all the uprisings going on across the globe you’d think people would be more worried about freedom being taken away.
Calldean, you forgot condescending, patronising, but xenophobe? I’m not frightened of you, or bothered by you. You are comical and bring me joy.
A good start is making people aware of an issue. I don’t understand your viewpoint, are you saying you are pro-censorship, the irony is that you can say this shit because you are on a site that doesn’t censor – I know of many sites that would have ditched you already of that level of personal abuse. I’d be happy to write you a 500 word essay on preserving freedom of speech, but humour me first with 10,000 on how personal abuse helps you state a case, and win a debate – here is a clue, it doesn’t.
Magic Robot, if you had real world problems you’d have better things to do than trolling. Shut up and fuck off.
If your other problems are so pressing that you don’t have the time to so much as care about SOPA and its impact, why don’t you spend more time sorting them out instead of reading this article and its comments?
And regarding the essay, why don’t you write an essay about what you’re going to do about unemployment and the future of the economy, seeing as they are (according to your first comment) issues far more important to you than SOPA?
MCG are you still here? I thought you were off to start your own tech site. Looks like you may have recruited some disciples -Happy day!
My Opinion on SOPA – largely indifference – I actually feel more agrieved by armchair activists and relentless bores. Non of you have the first clue about opression, restricted civil liberties and censorship (Unless you are posting from an African Jail or something?) Please don’t fantasise about what if’s and could be’s.
Like one of you said – I suppose there is no harm in raising awareness though. Go for it!
You will see that in the end, your words are pretty meaningless – That is, unless you are prepared to get off your backsides, go all the way and put yourself in harms way risking reputation and livelyhood, to make a difference, instead of playing at freedom fighting and posting big words while hunting in mobs, people who happen to disagree with you. Guess what? There is nothng stranger than folk!
Luke, employment is more important, actually, it’s the foundation of a civilised world. wink
MCG I’m going to have to pretend you are not real if you choose to continue with your monumental talknophical assumnacy.
It’s easier that way. If I reply to Aaron, please dont feel left out. Life is all about overcoming challenges and setting personal goals. There are plenty of people here who appreciate your pithy prose, but I’m not one of them.
Peace brother.
If you don’t respond to my comments, trust me, I would not feel left out – it would be seen as a victory, a small one but all the same a victory.
You aim to define people here that you don’t know, and assume far too much, and reason what hardships they have undergone, or the levels of activism they have been involved in, or even dare to understand the levels of activism they would be willing to undertake for the things they believe in. I, for one, am not you, don’t speak for me, nor pretend to understand a single thing about me. Everyone you know may have lived a safe bigoted boring middle-class life but you assume far too much for others.
It is pure egotism to proclaim that your own petty issues are more important that the freedoms of the collective, don’t get me wrong, I know you think they are but they are not. I see you feel greatly self important but I’m afraid you are delusional. And that is my issue with yourself, not that you viewpoint is counter to mine, but you list a series of petty things that are more important to yourself regarding this issue, but your life and your personal wants and needs are of little relevance to myself and others.
And in your eyes SOPA may be a small deal but all wedges have a thin end, which is eventually effective in holding a large body in place.
And for your information I decided against setting up my own tech site after decided it wasn’t for me, and resolving any differences I had, for now I am happy to be active here. I don’t understand why you feel I have recruited disciples, nor would wish to, I’m not the messiah I’m just a very naughty boy.
You are entitled to your opinion and I respect that opinion. I respect you more for being provocative and misguided, I love the clueless rebel, just don’t proclaim that you have more important things to be doing in your petty little life than be concerned about the freedom of your fellow humans, and then go insult them because they see through such a thin veil of conceited nonsense – worst still don’t act like a major fucking clueless arsehole and expect everyone to sit back while you get an erection by pissing on them. You got your rise, now jog on.
MCG – I didn’t think it was possible for something to both, suck and blow simultaneously (Bart Simpson) But you managed it with your monologue. It was going so well until the last bit. You tripped and fell over your potty mouth. Self control not one of your strong points? Perhaps you are just used to getting your own way. No one to disagree with you at home. Your tone is belligerent and imperious.
Your powers of deduction are commendable, Holmes himself would struggle create a profile of a person, based on such little information, such as you have done. Are you Psychic? It’s uncanny.
Your words are fantastical and largely, the content is made up. You shouldn’t make assumptions though. You make an ASS of U and ME when you assume (Samuel Jackson – The Long Kiss Goodnight) I have never once talked about class or social standing. I don’t recall any definition featured above that would indicate bigotry.
There are parts where I just can’t make sense of the your English – I am not trying to pull a cheap shot – but it’s true.
Forgive me if I just glanced the passage and forced my way to the bottom paragraph (and the dreaded profanity)It was disappointing and rather unnecessary.
Anyway, you can relax now, It is another day – Wiki will be back on and the world will be pretty much as it was the day before. We can all go back to laughing and commenting on stuff.
Sleep Well. Its hard work protecting the free world. Wink.
I suppose your currently in an African prison being tortured?
To quote Cartman once more ” I love you guys” to Giz uk
Sorry I meant UK with caps
Had a change of heart, Sam? Just a day or so ago you claimed that SOPA “wouldn’t affect us brits” http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/01/wikipedia-blackout-will-screw-us-all-over-a-crummy-us-law/
So what happened, did the editor slap some sense into you, or did you just decide to do some research?
Angles, my friend. Angles. Of course I’m dead against SOPA, and PIPA for that matter. I use lots of US-based services, that I don’t want stripped out from under me. And no, I don’t pirate stuff either. But that doesn’t mean I want someone else’s infringements to take out something I love, or hamper the next great thing. After all, I’m a tech journo — the next great thing is what I’m all about
Just post some copyright infringing material on the big companies forums that asked for the vote to be passed and laugh as their web page is taken down
I beg your pardon? Could someone be kind enough to explain to me how a piece of one country’s legislation affect citizens of another country? Legal terms are fine.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jonathan-heath/sopa-black-out-online-video_b_1212466.html?ref=uk
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-01/17/sopa-101
Heres two articles they should help.
Websites can have a global audience while still remaining under US jurisdiction. Therefore, sites you use can be removed from the internet without the application of UK laws.
Thanks guys but I’m still not clear on how this piece of American legislation can shut down my UK website or how I will be prosecuted, etc. My understanding is that my website won’t be allowed to be accessed in the US.
So, that bill can potentially limit a British website’s audience but it won’t shut it down. Have I got this right?
Let’s say your website takes a picture of a cat from a website based in the US (Flickr for example), because you’re from the internet so you’re talking about cats and you need a snazzy picture to add to the blog post about them. Suddenly, you have pirated content from america because the guy had restricted copyright on the image of his feline friend, and he and his picture are based in the USA. Due to our governments getting cosy with one another, the USA have the right to extradite you for pirating american content.
You got part of it right, but it’s the full picture that is frightening.
Also demands on were your site is hosted, and you don’t know what deals will be done with nameserving bodies around the world, in the near future this could be linked to the The Digital Economy Bill and shut a site at its root, rather than just an internal US link.
Hey hate to come across as all Spammy but there’s a Government ePetition going around to try and get our Government to condemn the bill. We can’t contact a member of congress so this is the next best thing.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/26143
Just press the cancel button before the page finishes loading…..bypass…..
It’s really funny to me that everyone is going ape over this American bill. We already have a SOPA type law in the UK it’s called ‘The Digital Economy Bill’ and was passed in 2010 in a rushed fashion. No one seemed to give a monkeys (i was furious) over here when it went through though.
I agree, that was a sad day.
Yes it was – and it happened long before this. Mmmmmm
So you feel strongly about a bill that will be larger ineffective and quite easy and fun to work around, yet indifferent to something that is a huge monster compared to this. How very odd.
The best thing about today’s blackout (apart from doing a lot more work without Wikipedia distracting me) has to be Kotaku’s article on why they aren’t blacking out.
Hillarious
The internet is a problem solver, causer and amplifier
Seems to me that this is all about control.
It used to be that if you wanted a music career then you needed to get in with a record company or else how would anyone except your very small fan base know about you.
You signed up with a record company who would give you an advance in order to buy better equipment and send you to a studio to make your records. You would then, unfortunately more often than not, be in hoc to said record company for a huge chunk of your career being paid a fraction of what you were making.
Then along came technology. First, due to advances in home recording technology, with a bit of reading and effort, you could cut out your studio costs. Then with the advancement in instrument technology, you might not have to hire or buy that uber expensive bit of kit when a cheaper alternative could do it for you.
Finally, you didn’t need to fork out to get the thing distributed as you could stick it on Myspace, Youtube et al and sell through your own website should you so wish.
The control has gone now and the music industry is desperate to get their greedy little hands back on it.
The same thing is happening to the Film and Television industries and I think production companies, like the music industry before them have completely missed it.
Whereas you used to need big bucks in order to make and promote your Film or T.V. production, now you just need a cheapish HD camera, a computer and Youtube. I’ve worked on films and T.V. productions and I’ve seen how it’s going, and although it’s going to be painful for some people, eventually I think it’ll all come out in the wash and what we’ll get is good content. Don’t get me wrong, I know we’ll get a lot of dross, but at the end of the day good content will win out.
The T.V. industry in particular has been a very very poisonous business in the past. I’ve known writers who have submitted good material which has been rejected only to re-appear in another thinly veiled guise but with another more well known writer down as the creator. Personally, I see this no longer happening as technological advances democratise creation more and more.
With regards to the piracy argument, sure it is a problem, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near the problem that these people are making out. I believe that there have been several studies in the past that make the claim that piracy has led to more sales of content not less. I can believe that having experienced it myself particularly with the band Lamb. Someone I know ripped me a few of their songs which I listened to on my laptop for about 10 minutes which were then deleted straight after I’d ordered their complete back catalogue. Virtual never cut’s it for me. I need cold hard plastic C.D’s and D.V.D.’s. plus I loved their stuff so much that I wanted to give them something back for what they’d given me through their music. There are quite a few artists out there that make me feel like that.
I myself don’t pirate as I like all the ephemera and packaging that goes with C.D.’s and D.V.D’s. Virtual stuff just doesn’t seem real to me, I guess I’m old fashioned like that.
At the end of the day, all I have ever witnessed from these anti-piracy moves are the descent of a hungry pack of wolves desperate to devour as much money as they could possibly get. When people are being fined the equivalent of over a thousand £ (I’m from the U.K. and can’t do math so you’ll have to work out the dollars for yourself) per song, when it actually retails for under a pound, justice turns into vindictiveness and greed.
With regards to Rupert Murdoch’s support for this, there was a comedy sketch from a‘Mitchell and Webb’ show that pretty much sums it up. They are both dressed as Nazi’s chatting away and seemingly for the first time notice that they have death’s head skulls on them and are dressed rather severely. One of them turns round to the other and with a very unhappy look on his face says… ‘we’re the baddies aren’t we’. It must be like that in SOPA when you realise that Rupert (can I borrow your phone) Murdoch is shouting for you.
“The BBC’s Jonny Dymond says that with Mr Rubio and Mr Blunt withdrawing their support, the Senate bill – Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa) – that had looked likely to pass, now appears to be in trouble.”
“In the House of Representatives, Republicans Ben Quayle of Arizona, Lee Terry of Nebraska and Dennis Ross of Florida said they were no longer supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa), joining Pennsylvania Democrat Tim Holden.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16623831
It ain’t a victory yet, but a great start for one days simple action of awareness.
I do a bit of piracy but then I need to otherwise I’ll never get to watch the tv shows that I do which happens to be Japanese Anime. A lot of the shows I watch will never see a release in the UK let alone the US which is the biggest market outside Japan. I do offset this a little by having a monthly sub with Crunchyroll to give my support and hope that more shows get released either online or on physical media.