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The Stop Online Piracy Act, known colloquially as SOPA, is a United States bill meant to protect
copyright holders against online intellectual property violations. The bill would make web hosting
services legally responsible for policing the content on their own sites. For example, Google would
have to police YouTube (which it owns) to ensure that all videos are the legal property of the
uploader. Furthermore, internet service providers would have to block copyright-violating sites
from being viewed and search engines would have to remove them from search results. ISPs
would also be encouraged to deny service to sites that offer medication that requires a prescription
in the United States.
Internet Search Results Will Change
One of the most obvious changes that average internet users will notice after SOPA is in internet
search results. Any search that would have previously included both foreign and domestic sites
that may contain copyright infringing material will no longer appear in the search results. Even
direct searches for the domain names of those sites may turn up blank pages, if ISPs block them
as the bill suggests. The obvious problem with this is policing what gets nixed and what does not.
Because the bill provides immunity for ISPs blocking sites they believe are covered by the bill,
there is the potential for blocking sites that are not breaking any rules. ISPs would have to verify
the copyrights of every web page they block for this to be truly accurate. If there is not enough
policing of these blocks, internet users might find sites being blocked unfairly. Copyright law is
very complicated, as there are often exceptions to the established rules with regards to fair use
practices, public domain rights, transfer of copyright from one intellectual property owner to
another on varying levels, etc. If ISPs are not carefully assessing the rights used by each website
they take down and verifying whether the rights to any content were properly obtained, average
internet users may find their social networking sites, blogs and personal family websites being
blocked over a mistake on the part of the ISP.
Process of Removing Copyright Infringing Content
Many average internet users have personal blogs or social networking accounts, and SOPA will
undoubtedly affect the functioning of these sites. That means that copyright infringing material
posted on one person's account on Twitter or Facebook could result in the blocking of these
domains entirely. In the past, a DMCA - Digital Millennium Copyright Act - takedown could be
issued, which would give the copyright infringing user a chance to remove the content, making it
easier for those who mistakenly post illegal content to remedy the situation without legal
repercussions. With SOPA, internet users do not get the opportunity to rectify mistakes. The
average internet user is not a legal copyright professional, so copyright infringing material is often
mistakenly posted. SOPA would make it so the user would not have the opportunity to remove the
content before being axed from search engines and ISPs. An entire web hosting service could
presumably disappear without receiving a DMCA takedown notice. The process for fixing and
overturning such takedowns has yet to be publicly announced.
Censorship Changes on the Internet
As it gives hosting providers and ISPs the right to remove sites at their sole discretion, many of the
opponents of SOPA cite the potential for widespread censorship as their primary reason for
opposing the bill. The way the bill is presented now, it looks like these takedowns will be indefinite
unless the sites' owners take action against it. Therefore, what average internet users see in
engine searches, direct domain searches and potentially on each individual website can be
censored before it reaches their eyes, if it reaches them at all. In general, search engines bury
what they consider "bad" websites already. However, these websites are not removed from
searches altogether or made impossible to view; a user can still access these sites with a little
diligence. SOPA will make that impossible, potentially establishing U.S. government censorship on
the internet.
"Unauthorized Streaming" And Other New Felonies
In the past, the DMCA made it so that companies could do their best to remove copyright
infringing content and still remain on the good side of the law. The same went for average internet
users who utilized these companies' services. SOPA, however, will make hosting some forms of
copyright infringing material a felony. Therefore, users who upload the material on their own sites
or companies that leave such material up can be charged with a felony if it is found to be "willful
infringement." The vagueness of that term is currently being challenged by the Library Copyright
Alliance. "Unauthorized streaming" of copyrighted material is another thing that SOPA would make
into a felony, with "streaming" being defined as the transmission of audio or video content.
Something as simple as reading a copyrighted book on YouTube to send to a child could be
considered unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material and result in felony charges being laid.
Other copyright infringing acts, such as plagiarism, are not covered under this aspect of the bill.
SOPA is an obvious attempt to protect U.S. internet users and copyright holders from foreign sites
that are stealing material that is copyrighted in the United States. The gesture seems to be in the
right place. However, these sites can be reported to advertising and hosting services affiliated with
them already, and DMCA takedown notices can already be issued. The sites can also currently be
reported to search engines, who will bury them in searches. Thus, there is already ample online
copyright protection on the books already. However good its intentions may be, SOPA will expand
government regulation of the internet to such a degree that censorship becomes inevitable. For
those of you who believe that the average internet user should be able to freely access whatever
website he or she desires (within reason), be sure to petition your representative not to bring
SOPA into law. Future generations may some day thank you for it!
Delta Cooper is a self-employed internet writer who likes to research a new topic each and every
day. Today, while looking up web hosting reviews for businesses, he came across discussions
about SOPA and decided to write about it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Delta_Cooper
==== ====
You probably woke up this morning to realize the Internet is totally screwy CNN ,encyclopedia
,SOPA explained ,in anti-piracy Wikipedia, other websites go dark bill protest CNN, copyrighted ,
content gets stolen,
www.2012economy.org
==== ====