Bills to Stop Web Piracy Invite a Protracted Battle

The New York Times ^ | January 15, 2012 | Jenna Wortham and Somini Sengupta

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When the Obama administration announced on Saturday its opposition to major elements of two Congressional bills intended to curtail copyright violations on the Internet, the technology industry, which has been loudly fighting the proposed legislation, could declare victory.

But few people in Silicon Valley or Hollywood consider the battle over.

The Motion Picture Association of America, which represents Hollywood studios and is a principal proponent of the antipiracy legislation, suggested that it would continue to push the administration to approve a modified version of the bills, known as the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act. “Look forward to @whitehouse playing a constructive role in moving forward on #sopa & #pipa,” the association posted on its Twitter feed Saturday night.

Some leaders of the movie industry were not as diplomatic. The chief executive of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, in a flurry of Twitter messages in the hours after the White House announcement, accused President Obama of capitulating to the technology industry. “So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,” he posted on his Twitter feed.

The antipiracy bills presented a difficult test to a young, disorganized and largely politically inactive technology industry. It is unclear that companies like Facebook and Google, left to themselves, could have swayed members of Congress or the White House without using the Internet to marshal opposition from technologists, entrepreneurs and computer-adept consumers. Opposition came from a vast spectrum, including computer security specialists who worried about a provision to tinker with Internet addresses and venture capitalists who feared the legislation would thwart the innovation of technology start-ups.

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New developments

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http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/a-tv-debate-on-antipiracy/?ref=business
A TV Debate on Antipiracy

http://www.zdnet.com.au/dns-provision-pulled-from-sopa-339329747.htm
DNS provision pulled from SOPA

http://www.vg247.com/2012/01/16/sopa-senate-vote-delayed-until-consensus-is-found/
SOPA senate vote delayed until “consensus” is found

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sopa-delayed-amidst-growing-criticism/089802
SOPA delayed amidst growing criticism

[C210N]

Can’t zer() just Executive Order this in for the MPAA? Maybe, he could do it while he deemed the Senate or the House or both were in Recess... like Recess legislation? If they don’t vote, he could just Deem it passed. It’s the Slaughterhouse way.

If Congress won’t act, I know he will!

[Bobalu]

It is impossible to control piracy in a networked digital age!

These idiots would know this if they had better than a room temperature IQ.

All they are doing is accelerating the evolution of inscrutable means of data exchange.

Once the totally secure methods are developed they will become common knowledge and spread like wildfire.

To stop the use of secure, anonymous data exchange they would need to control encryption, the right to privacy, the way the internet functions, free speech, the end-user hardware....etc etc.

They are doomed!

Traditional copyright simply cannot exist once a technology like the internet exists.

A few decades from now the same crisis will be reborn when people can replicate nearly any device or object at home using advanced 3d printing technology.

[RayChuang88]

I think because of the intense public pressure over SOPA/PIPA, don't be surprised both proposals are "tabled" until after the 2012 Presidential elections. There's good reason for this: 2012 is a year where all members of the House and 1/3 of the Senate are up for re-election--one wrong move with SOPA/PIPA and we could see massive turnover in both chambers.

The biggest problem with SOPA/PIPA is that it puts the Federal government directly into the business of determining what is allowed on the public Internet--a clear violation of the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment. In fact, any Federal judge in their right mind would declare SOPA/PIPA unconstitutional in essentially no time flat.

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http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/01/nbc-lawyer-defends-sopa-msnbc/47448/
NBC Lawyer Defends SOPA on MSNBC

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/114045-the-internet-wins-sopa-has-been-shelved-but-we-must-remain-vigilant
The internet wins: SOPA has been shelved, but we must remain vigilant

[Dr. Sivana]

. “So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,”

The MPAA and RIAA have to be the only two organizations at the same level of stupidity as the national Republican Party.

Back in the early '80s, they sued Betamax maker Sony over the VCR, and invention that was conceptually similar to the quite legal personal audio tape decks already common(Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.).

When VCRs proliferated, the industry wanted to sell tapes directly to the public for $80 for an aging hit ("Jaws", "The Sting"). They were officially worried about rental shops. This was wrong in two ways. First, the rental shops wound up being a great way for the movie studios to sell thousands of copies of third tier movies (Dude, Where's My Car) and lowering the price allowed them to sell MILLIONS of copies of blockbusters directly to the public and still make money (E.T. was marked down to $20).

High quality audio cassettes and recording of LPs, CDs and radio broadcasts did not wind up costing the industry money, despite the industries protests. Not every low quality $5 VHS tape sold on a street corner cost the industry a sale of the $25 version, being the video equivalent of the little boy who drills a hole in the fence to watch the ball game "for free".

There is no plausible reason why audio CDs of 30 year old works (e.g. Aerosmith's Greatest Hits) are worth the $10+ that manufacturers still want for them.

Extending copyright laws towards the 100 year mark, refusal to sell the publishing rights to 60 year old LP/78 RPM recordings for a reasonable price while at the same time also refusing to issue same on CD or digital formats will drive copying further underground. It is a perversion of the purpose of copyright laws, which is to encourage the original content creator to produce through exclusive compensation for a limited period of time.

The only way to stop copying content via the Internet is by shutting down the Internet. This is a cat and mouse game the cat cannot win.

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Over the years, I’ve bought “The Best of Three Dog Night” about three times - LP, 8-track, CD.

That’s enough.

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/elmirabayrasli/2012/01/16/sopa-will-hurt-american-innovation/
SOPA Will Hurt American Innovation

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/sopa-anti-piracy-bill-stalls-after-dns-blow-10025214/
SOPA anti-piracy bill stalls after DNS blow

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16574977
Rupert Murdoch Sopa attack rebuffed by Google

[Clay Moore]

“In fact, any Federal judge in their right mind ...”

Did you actually mean to write that? LOL (^;

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57359647-501465/sopa-debate-triggers-rupert-murdochs-piracy-leader-accusation-of-google/
SOPA debate triggers Rupert Murdoch’s “piracy leader” accusation of Google

http://www.dailytech.com/Obama+Admin+Declares+War+on+SOPA+SOPA+Author+Caught+Stealing+Work/article23783.htm
Obama Admin. Declares War on SOPA; SOPA Author Caught Stealing Work

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120116/02043417413/sopapipa-supporters-pretend-white-house-statement-means-we-can-rush-through-sopapipa.shtml
SOPA/PIPA Supporters Pretend White House Statement Means We Can Rush Through SOPA/PIPA