The Stop Online Piracy Act was introduced this past Wednesday into the House of Representatives by two Democrats and two Republicans. The Act would expand the power and scope of the FBI in cases involving piracy.
If passed, the FBI would be allowed to issue injunctions against foreign websites that host or allow the download of pirated material made by US companies. For example, if a Russian website is hosting a pirated version of a song created by an American musician, the FBI could issue an injunction against that Russian website. The FBI would also be allowed to go after payment processors, such as PayPal, that process payments to these websites.
Critics of the Act say that it gives the FBI too much power and would harm businesses. Some say that this would put a burden on the Internet and prevent it from working the way it is supposed to. "'There is no need for a bill this sweeping and this Draconian. There are simple, easily implemented solutions on which industry and others agree — such as cutting off the ability of credit-card companies to fulfill payments to sites that traffic in copyright infringement,' said Gigi Sohn, president of the public interest group Public Knowledge."
3 comments:
I agree. The war on piracy is a losing battle and should be given up entirely. If consumers have true respect for intellectual property, and believe someone should be granted credit for said property, then many of us are willing to pay for it. It should be up to consumers if we want to support artists, not their already wealthy and power hungry recording companies.
Very interesting thoughts on the internet piracy bill. We all know what piracy is and we have all done it. Whether it was when we were young and downloaded music or copied a movie that your friend bought that you didn’t want to buy. I didn’t realize that the bill was just introduced this past Wednesday; good up to date research. I like the idea that the FBI could issue injunctions against the foreign websites that host the downloading of pirated material made by U.S. companies. I think that’s a good thing should be passed. We wonder why all of our U.S. made products cost so much and I think that some of the softwares are highly priced, in part, because of the piraters overseas. It seems to me though that this is a very easy fix. Just like you guy said simply don’t allow the payment for these. The online company certainly isn’t going to do it for free, and if they have no way to get paid they might shut down the company. On the other hand however, this could create a black-market for pirating. I still think though that if a person like me could find an illegal place to pirate software then couldn’t the FBI find it as well? Either way whether it’s an online company doing it overseas or through a black market, some FBI governance wouldn’t be a bad thing. They don’t need too much power but they need to protect our American companies as well. Good post!!
Written By: Aaron Wright
I think that the government needs to give up on trying to stop piracy. It is something that happens every day and a lot every day. Everyone at some point in their life will have contributed to piracy. I really think its a battle that will never be won, and also I think it will be giving the FBI too much power and causing a lot of issues on the internet down the road.
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