The Internet Is In Trouble!

Freedom of Speech. 

That's a pretty broad, expansive right in our country. It allows every voice to exist, and to have an opinion. Not to sound like that kind of Patriot but Freedom of Speech is a large part of what separates us from nations like North Korea, China & even Russia. Those countries have issued laws so that any unsanctioned or undesirable public opinion/information could potentially be found criminal. Some punishable by paying a fine, others by jail time, and even in the most extreme circumstances, death sentences. We have to remember that these countries have different social structures than America to begin with; structures that are infused with communist traits/ideals. Anyway, this brings me to what can now be viewed as the Internet's evil nemesis:

*cue evil church organ music*

Now, looking at the actual words that make up the acronym, it probably doesn't sound threatening to anyone who doesn't fully know the implications. SOPA is a bill that originated through major media corporations (mainly the film & music industries). SOPA's main objective is to basically put a physical restriction on the Internet: No more posting/uploading/downloading of copyrighted material without consent from the original source. Unfortunately the applications exceed the implications.

Having SOPA pass is basically like using one huge cannon to kill all the elephants left on this planet, just because a few got away with killing a couple of humans in the wild. YES piracy is an issue and should be addressed, but as I mentioned before, the applications exceed the implications. SOPA would give corporations incredible power over the internet; potentially no one could post content on YouTube that contains a popular song without being fined by a record company. Another example: if you feature a film clip in a blog entry or on a website without consent by the respective studio, they can have your entire site shutdown for that simple infringement. Naturally of course, this threatens the freedom of opinion AND creativity on the internet. There IS original content out there, but let's face it, many entertaining factors of the internet are fueled by "unsanctioned" use of copyrighted material; whether it's chopping up a video to create lyrics to a well-known song, or chopping up a movie and it's audio to form an entirely new piece of work, or even simply covering a song on your guitar and posting it to all your social media.

 

Pixar could sue Pogo for this awesome juxtaposition of "UP". Ironically they didn't. In fact they got him to produce a remix for Toy Story. Crazy right? I think so. The people are not alone though. Companies (mainly social media and Wikipedia) that have thrived on the internet regardless of piracy are stepping up to defend us and themselves. Google showcased a doodle today (January 18th) that solidifies their stance on the SOPA bill.

G****e

 Wikipedia's also getting in on the action. After all, their site is probably one of the most threatened by SOPA. With SOPA in effect, sites that offer "free" information about things would be under fire. Given most of Wikipedia's information is editable and therefore not a completely credible source, let's face it...we've all looked up things on Wikipedia for clarification at one point or another. Do we really want to go back to Encarta, folks? It wasn't that bad...but compared to Wikipedia, I'd stay with Wiki. In protest of voting for SOPA, Wikipedia has "shut down" it's usual services today (January 18th).

Of course, if you search "SOPA" or "PIPA", it will go through.

To wrap up this info-session/rant, I want to emphasize the impact SOPA would have on Graphic Design (my profession), Web Design, and Film. Creative liberties would be immensely restricted. We would no longer be able to create art/media that contains the smallest form of recognizable copyrighted content. We'd always have to pay a corporation for using their image or altering an image they've already established in Photoshop, Illustrator, AfterEffects, etc. Or else we'd face prison time or the shutting down of our site. Therefore SOPA is basically a control on opinion and expression. It's not as bad as China or Russia...yet. It has potential to be amended and have more controls added IF it is passed. So if you have no idea what SOPA or PIPA stand for, then please Google it and learn more. Your freedom is actually being challenged by these bills, whether or not you are directly affected. Who knows what the next step would be if this passes.