Why SOPA and PIPA are not just US issues

For many students around the world, working on school projects probably became extremely difficult all of a sudden on Wednesday when they found that open-source websites such as Wikipedia were not working. The website was among dozens of others that willfully shutdown operations for 24 hours, to protest against two bills aimed at combating online piracy, awaiting approval from the United States Congress. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is due to be put to vote in the US Senate, while the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) will be put to vote in the US House of Representatives. The logic behind both acts is simple: raise the cost of copyright infringement to a point where it becomes unattractive for any entity or individual by beefing up penalties and enforcement. However, the likely impact of these potential laws would be much more far-reaching. In a recent TEDTalk, Clay Shirky presented the example of a bakery that no longer allows children to print cartoon characters on birthday cakes because it fears backlash from Hollywood studios that own copyrights over depictions of these characters. Shirky, a self-styled expert on the social and economic impact of internet technology, asserted SOPA and PIPA will place similar bars on amateurs using content online. Shirky explained that websites such as YouTube rely heavily on content uploaded by internet users but have no means to police each and every submission posted by users. Consequently, such websites would have to shutdown uploads by the general public, instead relying on content pre-approved for online publication by owners of that particular media. Blog space providers such as WordPress would also have to take similar steps to avoid being flooded by take-down notices. "The real threat from the enactment of these acts is our ability to share things with one another," he summed up. Opposition against the intended legislation has gathered momentum over the week. Among internet-based businesses, giants including Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, Facebook, America Online, eBay, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit and Wikipedia have emerged as strong opponents to both bills. Activist bodies such as Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch have also expressed concerns that the SOPA, PIPA bills will prove a knockout combination against freedom of speech. These acts are by no means the first time that protecting the media industrys interests has run contrary to the interests of the general public. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1997, Prioritising Resources and Organisation for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 and the Intellectual Property Rights Enactment Act of 2007 all proposed similar curbs on sharing of data by users other than copyright holders. For those of us who have used client-sharing platforms, the fall of Napster marked an end to the era of endless playlists and free-spirited musical journeys! Neither is this issue restricted to US audiences. Any restrictions on content sharing will bear down on internet users all over the world. For this purpose, just as American voters are making their voice heard against SOPA and PIPA; other countries should also voice their concerns with the US government, before the two bills reach the table of US President Barrack Obama to be signed into law.