This is a letter that Smirk New Media CEO Mike Koehler had published in last Saturday’s Oklahoman.
Ignorance of the Internet is no virtue.
Unfortunately, it seems some leaders with the power to govern the Web think it’s acceptable to shrug your shoulders, mumble about “not being a techie” and push through a law that could fundamentally change the way the world works online. SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) is making its way through Congress, and is carried by those who are either unaware or unconcerned with its consequences.
Proponents claim SOPA necessarily protects corporate rights to ensure no copyrighted material leaks out to the Web. But rather than addressing copyright issues with precision, SOPA solves the issue of “pirated” content by swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. Current laws allow sites time to remove material after being notified by a rights-holder.
Under SOPA, a whole site can be shut down if pirated content is posted by a user, as can any site linked to such content. Moreover, SOPA contains a “private right of action” saying that a private party, without court authority, can effectively shut down a website. That “private party” can even be a competitor, their complaints real or contrived. Thankfully, companies are lining up against SOPA. They don’t want to wait until it’s too late. They don’t want to wake up and find that Google, YouTube, Facebook or Wikipedia has been shut down.
Those companies and sites have helped build the Web into what it is today, a transformative force for business and consumers, a force based on innovation — not on ignorance.
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