What are SOPA and PIPA?
Both SOPA and PIPA are designed to target online piracy of copyrighted material; SOPA is the bill currently before the U.S. Senate, while PIPA is being considered by the House of Representatives. Music, movie and other file sharing sites often operate in violation of U.S. and international copyright law and may be targeted by law enforcement agencies for these violations under existing laws. Rather than targeting these sites directly, SOPA and PIPA are aimed at the Internet service providers (ISPs), domain name server (DNS) providers and search engines that provide access for the file sharing sites. While SOPA targets ISPs directly, PIPA also applies to a broad range of other Internet services including search engines, online financial services and DNS providers. Both bills are considered to pose a significant threat to the free and open access to information that most Internet users have enjoyed thus far.
Vanishing support in Congress
While public opposition to SOPA and PIPA has been loud and persistent, there are signs that Congress is quietly getting the message. A co-sponsor of PIPA and two co-sponsors of SOPA withdrew their sponsorships and their support for these bills in response to the ongoing protests. Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, explained his change of heart on PIPA by citing “legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have.” Republican senator Lamar Smith announced that he planned to eliminate the clause in SOPA that would restrict access to certain foreign websites accused or suspected of participating in online piracy, a provision backed by major copyright holders in the movie and music industries.
Threats to Internet access remain
Even after the removal of the provision that would block access to certain foreign websites, the SOPA legislation still includes language that would allow or force ISPs to refuse to provide services to any website that “engages in, enables or facilitates” online piracy or copyright infringement. Opponents of SOPA argue that this language is so vague as to include nearly all websites on the Internet, with blogs and social networking sites especially vulnerable to the application or misapplication of the SOPA legislation. While this initial battle appears to have been won, most experts predict that SOPA and PIPA will return in some form during the next legislative session.
Kimberly Dovander
Kimberly is the pro blogger in the WHS family. WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr... It doesn't matter - she knows them all. Send her a question, or a drop a line in the comment section below, and she'll get back to you.
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