STOPPING THE STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT – THE INTERNET FLEXES ITS MUSCLE

by Bob White - Posted In: Technology & Entrepreneurial Companies

Few events in the Internet’s short history have had the sheer power and spectacle of the recent rise and fall of the Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”). SOPA and its companion bill (the Protect Intellectual Property Act (“PIPA”)) quickly went from highly touted and strongly supported legislation that appeared certain to pass to sudden and ignominious defeat. These bills were not only quickly defeated, but were vilified and strongly condemned, even by some who initially supported them. This stunning defeat occurred despite strong initial support in Congress and from heavyweight backers of the legislation.

SOPA (in the House of Representatives) and PIPA (in the Senate) began life as proposed strong responses to the significant problem of foreign websites selling unlicensed or counterfeit American goods and items to American consumers. By their nature, these sellers are largely immune from any civil remedies available to legitimate United States companies or from American criminal prosecution. These types of product sales are a huge problem for many United States industries as they siphon off considerable sums that could be going to the legitimate producers and sellers of American goods.

SOPA and PIPA initially had strong support from some influential members of Congress and from such powerful industry sources as the United States Chamber of Commerce. The entertainment industry was also a strong backer of these bills due to the substantial losses that they incur from piracy and unlicensed sales.

This initial positive scenario rapidly turned against SOPA and PIPA as Internet and social media users began to assert that these bills could cause fundamental changes in the way that the Internet operates. These users also believed that the proposed legislation contained technical provisions and ambiguity regarding the ways in which the government could use the legislation. They claimed that the combination of these factors could lead to censorship of the Internet by the government. These censorship allegations were widely adopted by the opponents of this proposed legislation, and a huge Internet and social media campaign was launched to mount opposition.

Support for these bills rapidly eroded, and even some early congressional supporters began to publicly oppose the proposed legislation. One source estimates that online petitions obtained 10 million signatures and that members of Congress received 3 million emails on this matter. Eventually 34 Senators spoke publicly against the legislation.

The real death blow to this proposed legislation, however, occurred on Wednesday, January 18, when many popular websites (including Wikipedia) voluntarily shut down for the day in protest of SOPA and PIPA. Google, which opposed the proposed legislation, did not shut down but posted a public display of opposition on its site. These measures focused the public’s attention on this matter to an even greater degree, and the online protests against these bills intensified.

On January 20, the main sponsors of SOPA and PIPA elected to terminate these bills, effectively ending this proposed legislation.  The negative activities of the foreign websites still exist, however, and will likely continue to get worse. It is fairly certain that other legislation or alternative measures in this area will be brought up again soon.

While the activities of these foreign websites are a critical problem for many American businesses, the real lesson from the SOPA and PIPA situations is the overwhelming power of the Internet and social media. The Internet and social media have figured prominently in the reporting of many events and natural disasters, but this is the strongest demonstration to date of the power of the Internet and social media in the political arena.

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Tags: Robert C. White, Jr.