Webmaster’s Corner for Friday, January 20, 2012
January 20, 2012 
3 Comments
By now, I’m sure most everyone has heard about SOPA and PIPA, and the massive online demonstrations against the twin bills. The details of these bills are available elsewhere on the net, so I won’t try to get into a long explanation of them here.
I had wanted to post something on this site about it on January 18 along with Wikipedia and so many other sites that were ‘blacked’ out in protest, but my main computer (the one I do all the audio editing on) has suffered an equipment failure of some kind, I think it’s this new power supply and hope its not the motherboard, but I digress… and then the laptop that I’m writing this on now, somehow the boot sector on this hard drive disappeared. Both events within two days of each other. Talk about a strange coincidence…
I can’t emphasize the importance of making sure that the SOPA and PIPA bills are defeated at all cost. While I realize that the recording industry suffers millions of dollars annually to online piracy, there is an inherant problem with the so-called anti-piracy efforts that are being made by the movie industry and the ‘record’ industry. In a nutshell, the way I understand the bills and the way they were constructed, anyone who had any remote connection to almost any recorded work, could simply post a ‘copyright’ claim against any website that they felt was posting their work, and have that site blacklisted by search engines, rendered inaccessible by their ISP, or perhaps even sued out of existence. I saw few, if any safeguards for the owner of websites which feature media content.
Take Airchexx.com for example. Under the proposed legislation, the way I see it, if someone wanted to claim that this website was violating their copyright – anybody, anything… a jock, a jingle company, even a radio station for a recording of that station from 30 years ago… they could get us shut down by the mere accusation.
This is the thing that worries me. I’m sure the scenario that I painted is rather extreme, and not terribly likely (I would hope not, I have tried to give everyone that I could think of in these airchecks credit for their work), however, I have to wonder what would become of the ‘fair use’ clause of U.S. Copyright law if SOPA or PIPA were to pass.
Frankly, if either bill does pass, I will have to consult an attourney and decide whether or not this website shall remain on the web in it’s present form, or at all. And that’s what’s at stake, unless I’m totally wrong about these bills. Oh, I know the expressed intent was to shut down offending, mainly overseas pirate websites, but it’s the unintended consequenses of hastily fashioned legislation that poses clear and present danger.
As of this writing, it appears that the two aforementioned bills are dead in the water. Whether or not they remain dead, or something different is set before lawmakers remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, the reaction, or lack of, will determine whether we continue with a free and open internet, or something far more restricted. The choice is yours.
Steve West
Owner/Webmaster
And, late today comes word that the SOPA and PIPA bills have been shelved, at least for the time being. A large victory!, but this is just one volley. We’ll have to fight another one at some point in the future.
Good words Steve!
SOPA and PIPA may be presented with good intentions to protect a certian group of people/entities. However the real efforts of these bills, as written, is so vague and such a large scope, it is really an effort to enforce censorship on the constiuents, who are afforded that right in the Bill of Rights.
Very wise words on this just being one battle. When they think we are sleeping, they will quietly try them again. We must remain vigilant and on gaurd from these attacks againsit personal freedom.
Editing note: In the last sentence of paragraph two, it should read,”Who are afforded the right of Freedom of Speech in the Bill of Rights.”