Abby Hart

ENGL-1010

What to Do About Piracy?

Piracy is becoming more and more popular. The internet is making it easier to get what you want for free online. For example, you could go to Google and type “watch free movies online” and you would get about 803,000,000 results. You could get the latest action flick without having to leave the comfort of your home and get if for free. The creators of digital content do not like how easy it is to get your new favorite song, movie, etc. for free online. The thing is, you may find yourself spending the next five years of your life in prison. Digital piracy is a problem because creators are not getting paid for their intellectual property. Currently we are unable to effectively regulate offenders. Estimates on cost to the U.S. economy range anywhere from $58 billion to $250 billion year. Julian Sanchez explains in a Cato Institute report that the numbers released by the Government Accountability Office in 2010 are not accurate. Sanchez also said, “These figures were made up out of thin air.” It could be that those most affected estimate the costs of piracy to be higher. (Raustiala and Sprigman ) To help solve this problem, media industries have demanded Congress do something. Bills like PIPA &SOPA have been proposed to protect media companies. OPEN was the last billed to be proposed when people spoke up about the potential consequences of PIPA & SOPA. SOPA and PIPA would be the most constraining due to undesired consequences.  Although SOPA, PIPA, and OPEN have problems, OPEN is the better option and the most liked by those who still want to create and share digital media.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) was introduced to The House Judiciary Committee in November 2011. The PROTECT IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA) is basically the same as SOPA but created by Congress. SOPA and PIPA are created with the purpose to “crack down on copyright infringement by restricting access to sites that host or facilitate the trading of pirated content (Pepitone).”  SOPA addresses the theft of digital media by making the website that hosted the site liable. The Pirate Bay and BitTorrent tracker are websites where you can have access to free music, movies, TV shows, E-Books, video games, comics, and much more. These are the main targets of SOPA. According to Clay Shirky’s TED talk, “Why SOPA is a bad idea”, his means that we reverse innocent until proven guilty to guilty until proven innocent. The sites that allow users to host material, like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TED, would have to monitor all uploads.  Sites like these would have to shut down due to the costs of monitoring content hosted. If the site is out of the United States then search engines would be required not to link to them. The internet service providers would also be required to block access to those sites.

If SOPA was passed it would effectively censor the internet and limit innovation greatly due to the shutdown of most, if not all, social media sites.  Without access to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, My Space, Instagram, etc. freedom of speech would be limited. Venture capitalists have expressed their reluctance to invest in projects that may have the potential of copyright infringement due to user’s media being hosted.  Without the funding from venture capitalists innovation would be hindered due to lack of funding.

In protest of SOPA and PIPA some websites went down for a day, Wednesday, January 18, 2012. This “blackout” day included Wikipedia, Reddit, Mozilla, Flickr, WordPress, Tumblr, and Vimeo. Although Google didn’t go “black” it did have a black banner across its name on its homepage with a link to www.sopastrike.com. It was the largest online strike in history. On January 20, 2012 the bill was indefinitely postponed. (Shakir)

Examples of copyright infringement include photo copying books or magazines, recording music off the radio, checking out a CD from a public library and ripping a copy. All of these examples are not addressed by SOPA, PIPA, or OPEN. Another example of copyright infringement is mentioned in a Ted.com talk by Clay Shirky. He shared this story. A college bakery had this machine that could print or copy a picture onto a sheet of sugar for cakes. This bakery had kids come in with their drawings of their favorite carton carters like Mickey Mouse, Dora, Scooby Doo, etc. that they had drawn. Is that not copyright infringement? The bakery had to basically say, “Hey, sorry but no more ‘amateurs’ but you can pick out from the selection of pre-picked pictures or be a ‘professional’. (Shirky)”

Some of the major supporters of SOPA are: Microsoft, Sony, McAfee, Motion Picture Association of America (which include Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures Entertainment), Pfizer (pharmaceutical company), and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the MPAA, made statements against the “Blackout” saying it was a “gimmick” and “an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them…”  Pfizer’s CSO and VP of Global Security Team, John P. Clark, says piracy is a global problem and clients are at risk from counterfeited medicines.  RIAA said SOPA will protect consumers from rogue sites (Vafeiadis).

Film, music, photos, eBooks, and software are the most pirated forms of digital media. We should protect their intellectual property but at what cost? Those that oppose SOPA are those that host the most pirated forms of media, those that illegally download such media and sites that may have to shut down due to the inability to effectively monitor the data being hosted. Some such opposers are eBay, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo. (Writer)

OPEN, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Act, was a bill introduced to Congress as an alternative to SOPA on December 17, 2011. Senator Ron Wyden, from Oregon, and Representative Darrell Issa, from California proposed this bill. Unlike SOPA which redirects or blocks users from offending sites, OPEN “…seeks to stop transfers of money to foreign websites whose primary purpose is piracy or counterfeiting… (Keep the Web Open)”. The enforcement of OPEN would fall under the United States International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC would have power to resolve patent-related disputes, collect fees from complainants, and hire investigators. OPEN protects rights of artists like SOPA but it is different in its policing as it does not create new policing authority. OPEN protects “legitimate internet businesses, social media, legitimate websites and internet innovation. (Keep the Web Open)”

Supporters of OPEN include Google, Facebook, Consumer Electronics Association, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. These companies feel that OPEN is a good place to start. It would be an effective way to stop pirating but keep legitimate business in business. Fred von Lohmann, an attorney for Google, said, “We think following the money, the money that supports foreign rogue sites, is a sensible place to start. (Keep the Web Open)” The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) strongly opposes OPEN. They feel it would allow companies to profit from online piracy. Individual artists and creators are concerned about the frustrations and complexity OPEN will require of them.

  To conclude, maybe OPEN is what we need to get our foot in the door to stop piracy. SOPA and PIPA maybe too much for internet users, social media, and internet businesses to handle.  Fighting for piracy to go away is still important though.  There could be other solutions yet to be created. One of those solutions is finding a middle ground between SOPA and OPEN. To have all parties be happy, users, business and the government, will require time and compromise. In the meantime, because of all the consequences SOPA and PIPA will have if they become a law, OPEN would be the better bet.

Works Cited

Keepthewebopen.com. Web. 11/4/2012

Magid, Larry. “What Are SOPA and PIPA And Why All The Fuss?” Forbes. Forbes.com, 18 Jan 2012. Web. 11/4/2012.

Potter, Ned. “’Wikipedia Blackout, ’SOPA and PIPA Explained.” NBC. NBC.com ,17 Jan 2012. Web. 11/4/2012.

Shakir, Faeiz. “BREAKING: Harry Reid Cancels Senate Debate Over Protect IP Act.”  Think Progress. Center for American Progress Action Fund, 20 Jan 2012.  Web. 11/4/2012.

Shirky, Clay. “Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea.”  TED. TED Conferences, Jan 2012. Web. 10/4/2012.

Sopastrike.com. Web. 11/4/2012.

Raustiala, Kal and Sprigman, Chris. “How Much Do Music and Movie Piracy Really Hurt the U.S. Economy?” Freaknomics.com. Freakonomics, 12 Jan 2012. Web. 30/4/12.

Vafeiadis, Michail. “Five Major SOPA Supporters.” The Christian Science Monitor. Web. 11/4/2012

Writer, Staff. “Behind SOPA: What It Means for Business and Innovation.” BusinessInsurance.Com. Business Insurance Quotes. Web. 10/4/2012.