SOPA and PIPA 101

I set out for opinions on SOPA and PIPA from students here at the University of Georgia, but realized most students I spoke to either had a vague idea of each acronym’s meaning or no idea at all.   

“I’m not sure about SOPA and PIPA. I don’t really get what’s going on to be honest,” said one junior.  
Others had a general understanding, but expressed their thoughts on media regulation.

“I’m against it,” said Anna Wilson, a junior. “From what I know, the government is trying to take copyright laws for print material and apply them to digital media.”   

Of the 6 students interviewed, only two had a general understanding of each bill’s purpose.

What does this say about what people are doing to stay informed? Is the government doing enough to make this information clear once we find it?

Here is a breakdown of SOPA and PIPA minus the excessive government lingo:

 Media companies have done all they can to crack down on online piracy and copyright infringement. These efforts, however, only monitor piracy within the confines of the U.S. and have no effect on foreign domains. 

 To include foreign websites in piracy regulation, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate introduced the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Both bills were introduced last year but only came to public knowledge earlier this month when Wikipedia rang the alarm on the government’s activity.

According to the Library of Congress website, SOPA would give the U.S. government the right to enforce court action against any foreign site engaging in copyright infringement of materials including “sound recordings or videos of live musical performances, the recording of exhibited motion pictures, or trafficking in counterfeit labels, goods, or services.” PIPA would give U.S. government and copyright holders the right to cease traffic to any website with “no significant use other than engaging in or facilitating copyright infringement.”

Under these circumstances, it would be hard to call the internet a free forum for discussion and the exchange of ideas. It could compromise any means for innovation that comes along with user-generated content.  

In protest, Google, Wikipedia, and thousands of small websites participated in a blackout, placing black banners on logos and blocking pages to project their idea of what the internet would become if SOPA and PIPA were passed.  The Wikipedia pages on both bills, however, were still accessible.

Without extensive research on SOPA and PIPA it would be hard to understand the details listed on the Library of Congress website. It is important for people in our generation to stay informed and it is also important for our government to make the process of finding and understanding information much easier.  

Hopefully, situations like these serve as a reminder of the importance of forming a clearer line of communication between the government and its people.