So, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is expected to clear a "closed-door-secret-committee" this week, which means it could pass the House by late this week or early next week. This is a very dangerous bill that could essentially censor the Internet and hurt the small businesses that rely on it for a living.
It's not just about fighting piracy, as the bill allows the government to shut down a website without due process is it's even SUSPECTED of infringing on copyright or trademarks. No proof is needed.
I've been working with musicians and authors for about five years now. As a result, I have a wealth of copyrighted material on my servers, which are there by permission. Musicians often send me songs for my input, for promotional purposes, or to distribute. While I do not own the copyright on these songs, I have permission by the owner to possess and distribute/promote their music. Under this law, the RIAA can say that my site has infringing copyright material on it, and poof - it's gone. No way to prove I have rights to use it, nothing. They don't even have to own the copyright (I only work with Indie, non RIAA/Label bands)!
The other thing you can do is share this article and it's message with everyone you know. Tell them to fight for an open and free internet. Make companies use existing laws to counter piracy, not create new laws that kill the internet just so they don't have to adapt.
I've written my congressman and received the usual bull-shit "I didn't really read your letter cause I could care less what you have to say" form letter. There's a lot of people telling you to do this, but I really don't think it matters to these guys. It doesn't matter because We The People no longer have a voice in what happens.
Here's a list of the heavy-weights that support SOPA. These are companies you support every day, every time you turn on the radio or television, or go to a movie. I have stopped supporting them - ALL OF THEM - and will only support Independent artists who believe in creating art is ultimately for the fan, not for corporate profit.
ABC
AFTRA – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
AFM – American Federation of Musicians
AAP – Association of American Publishers
ASCAP
BMG Chrysalis
BMI
CBS Corporation
Cengage Learning
DGA – Directors Guild of America
Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.
EMI Music Publishing
ESPN
Graphic Artists Guild
Hachette Book Group
HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C.
Hyperion
IATSE – International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Kaufman Astoria Studios
Macmillan
Major League Baseball
Marvel Entertainment, LLC
McGraw-Hill Education
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
NFL – National Football League
National Music Publishers’ Association
NBCUniversal
News Corporation
New York Production Alliance
New York State AFL-CIO
Pearson Education
Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
The Perseus Books Group
Producers Guild of America East
Random House
Reed Elsevier
SAG – Screen Actors Guild
Scholastic, Inc.
Silvercup Studios
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Time Warner Inc.
United States Tennis Association
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Publishing Group
Viacom
Warner Music Group
W.W. Norton & Company
Wolters Kluwer
Credit to Seth Godin for compiling this list, and is far from complete as notables such as Apple, Nintendo, Microsoft and AVG are missing.
What You Can Do - Call To Action
I made the mistake of writing my government, but like OWS, we need to focus on where the problem starts - the corporations. Write to them and tell them you will not buy their products, watch their shows, or listen to their music unless they withdraw support for SOPA, and use their muscle to help stop the bill's passage.
Yes, I know it's work, but take a moment to imagine a world without YouTube, Facebook, Google+, Google, Twitter, Yahoo (OK we could live w/out Yahoo) or your favorite website. Imagine the risk your own site has because if you link to site that infringes, your site could also be taken down.
