Later this month, the House Committee on the Judiciary is expected to make its desicion on the Stop Online Piracy Act, a new bill that will allow the U.S. government to block Americans from accessing websites, which could affect such things as online gaming and YouTube, that infringe on intellectual property.
SOPA is opposed by a coalition of open Internet advocates and Internet companies such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, eBay and Twitter. However, the measure is supported by entertainment giants such as Disney, Time Warner, Comcast, CBS and The Recording Industry Association of America. These websites are petitioning against the bill and are urging the public to contact their senators to speak out against it. Chetachi Egwu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Humanities in the Farqhuar College of Arts and Sciences, said that there are two sides to the issue.
“On one hand, you have the issue of theft to someone’s intellectual property – which is wrong. They don’t want their intellectual property stolen. It cuts down on the profits and it is stealing people’s work,” she said. “However, critics are saying that SOPA will affect our freedom of speech. Websites opposing the bill would shut down, PayPal and Wikipedia for example, which can lead to an Internet blackout.”
Christopher Curtis, sophomore marketing student, feels that the issue is a deep and complicated debate that will not end anytime soon.
“SOPA is a double edged sword. Parts of it are needed to help protect IP and its value to companies and/or individuals. It will help companies enforce their policies on IP and drive sales. If there is no way to protect products like music and no way for companies to make money on it, then the industry crashes and we (people) lose,” he said.
Curtis said, “On the flip side, it, potentially, violates constitutional rights, crosses the line of Internet censorship and may potentially be punishing the wrong people. Why punish the creator of a file-sharing site? Go after the person sharing the actual content.”
Christina Pantoja, graduate student, M.S. instructional design diversity education, thinks that SOPA will impact websites where free speech is otherwise permitted and could become a potential danger to American’s constitutional rights.
“I understand they [the government] want to protect artists and their industry but people will always find a way to get what they want. Piracy has existed for how long? It will continue to happen even with this act,” said Pantoja.
