Why SOPA Isn’t A Clean Solution

SOPA, or the Stop Online Privacy Act, is another internet focused measure being circulated as federal legislation around internet use continues to heat up. My estimate is that it takes federal government about 10-15 years to catch up with current innovations overall so we are just now seeing a coming wave of laws which will take aim at policing technology and internet use. That kind of latency is not unheard of, and really whenever there is a technological revolution, there will eventually be laws enacted to follow up on those changes. So whether we are talking about driving laws to catch up with the advent of the automobile and changeover from pedestrian/animal based transportation, or labor laws rising up after factories and industrial lines became wide spread, now we are entering a period where new measures are being penned to catch up with the rise of online business.

SOPA is now being oppossed by industry leaders Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter. Essentially SOPA would allow the federal government to block sites from a U.S. audience which have been shown to be pirating content (estimated to cost $775B in lost revenue annually). There are many problems with this measure as Inc. points out, including a heavy burden on small business, questions for companies with user supplied content, and problems with existing security protocol. Additionally, having such sweeping powers to block sites creates all of kinds of questions about who is doing the blocking and how sites are properly judged.

The good news is that is looks like the issue has gotten enough attention, this measure will not pass in it’s current form. However, it brings to light an important point about why companies like Yahoo, Google, Amazon, and others have found common ground in groups like NetCoalition. The internet is new enough, that the public and government do not have a firm grasp on technical and structural issues to form rules which will bring more positive benefit than negative. It is the responsibility of those engaged in online business to be aware and take part in the formation of rules and regulations which help the public, but do not infringe on the openness which has allowed online business to expand at an exponential rate.

January 12th, 2012