There was unprecedented furore following the US Congress’ tabling of two new laws that seek to control the Internet — SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protection of IP Act). Simply put, these laws would enable the US Department of Justice to act against ‘any foreign rogue websites that violate copyright laws and advocate piracy.’
Big media firms and Hollywood personalities who back these laws argue that America is losing major revenue because of intellectual property theft that results in job losses, and to curb this, strict vigilance of the Internet is necessary. If enforced, the laws will mandate firms to remove copyright material — no more free stuff.
It resulted in a massive Twitter outrage, and overwhelming protests. Wikipedia ‘blacked out’ its English site for 24 hours on Wednesday. Founder Jimmy Wales said in a TV interview, “The right answer is to follow the money (to curb piracy). If you’ve got large-scale piracy going on, it’s the same as any other trade dispute.” Google invited people to sign a petition against SOPA, ‘because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the US.’ Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on his wall, “We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the Internet’s development.” Popular websites as Mashable, Wired, Reddit and Wordpress were all against SOPA.
Back home in India, many are simply surprised. Tirupur-based curator/licensee of TedX, Vivekanandan Manokaran, says, “If you want to control online piracy, you should act on individual basis. Taking on sites is not the way.” C. Umashankar IAS, who is a very keen follower of the wired world, says, “The law is akin to catching a monkey’s tail. When you try to catch the monkey’s tail, you ultimately become one too. If USA curbs servers from hosting violating data, they will host in other countries. Individual consciousness against piracy is the only solution.” Software professional Ashik Salahudeen says, “Policing the Internet and trying to bring in a ‘1984’ situation is completely impractical.” Actor Abbas says, “Without understanding how the Internet works and enforcing laws favouring corporates is terrible.”
All this dissidence has softened legislators. A White House official has already announced that they will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression.
The initial backers of SOPA and the Obama administration are also seen as less likely to enforce the controversial law. Another law, aptly titled OPEN (Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act), backed by Google and Facebook is now seen to be a viable alternative to the SOPA and PIPA, which awaits voting on January 24. Can they tame piracy this time?