In recent weeks, word of a planned SOPA blackout circulated around the internet as opponents of new legislation banded together to fight online censorship. But what exactly is SOPA and why is it making so much noise? More specifically, how could it single-handedly devastate thousands of small virtual businesses that rely on link-sharing and uploads to earn revenue?
What Is SOPA?
SOPA is short for the Stop Online Piracy Act, which is legislation that has been circulating through Congress in recent weeks. This act addresses complaints from members of the media industry that websites are regularly guilty of copyright infringement, or online piracy, by linking to or allowing uploads and downloads of copyrighted material such as music, movies and even books.
Online copyright infringement has been a complaint of the media industry for some time since corporations say it leads to job losses by depriving content creators their income. To address the issue, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which banned websites’ use of copyrighted material, but required content creators to spot copyright infringement then ask websites to remove the material.
But SOPA, and its companion legislation in the Senate called the Protect IP Act, could shift the responsibility of spotting copyright infringement to search engines and websites. The acts would also allow the federal government to step in and block sites that host the content, meaning massive sites like YouTube could face the task of governing every single upload it receives to avoid being shut down.
While large sites may have the manpower and money to address copyright infringement issues as they arise, smaller online businesses may suffer more because they are not equipped to face this level of opposition. This is why sites are instead fighting the legislation before it passes.
How the Stop Online Piracy Act Could Devastate Small Businesses
Many opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act have chosen to blackout their websites today to fight the legislation in an attempt to show how the internet would be affected if they are shut down permanently.
One reason that websites are opposed to the SOPA legislation is that not only will it impact sites that link to or upload copyrighted material, but it will also affect third-party websites who link to another site with copyrighted material.
This one piece of the legislation could affect just about any website on the internet, but could especially devastate small online businesses. Websites like Reddit, the social-news site that collects links found around the web, and Unreality, a site that similarly finds top media-related content including photos, artwork and YouTube videos, operate solely by linking to sites that link back to copyrighted material.
The very nature of these sites would require that they be branded “rogue sites” and be shut down by the government. This would immediately eliminate their ability to earn money online, even if no one directly associated with their sites has uploaded the copyrighted material. As official entities that pay taxes like their offline counterparts, the legislation could not only hurt small businesses, but impact the government’s ability to earn revenue from them.
On the whole, opponents complain that SOPA would not only eliminate their right to free speech, but would also shut down free and open internet by handing over governing powers to corporations and judges. It’s for this reason that they are asking their supporters to fight SOPA by blacking their websites, tweeting Senate leadership and signing a petition to avoid online censorship.
