SOPA, who's in and who's out?

engadget.com ^ | December 31, 2011 | Edgar Alvarez

[MamaDearest]

By now we're sure you're aware that SOPA is more than just a tomato-based noodle soup. The Stop Online Piracy Act's been stirring controversy with its intentions, and it'll most likely continue in this path until we hear a final decision. Go Daddy wasn't shy -- before retracting -- about its support for the bill, and things have changed drastically since we first heard some of the "top dogs" express their feelings. But who else is behind it, who's got your back, and who's had a change of heart? The answers await you after the break.

The following are just a few that we believe you'll be interested in, but you can find the rest of the bunch at the source links below.

Opponents

• Disqus
• AOL
• eBay
• Facebook
• foursquare
• Google
• GrooveShark
• Kickstarter
• Mozilla
• PayPal
• Wikipedia
• Reddit
• Square
• The Huffington Post
• Craigslist
• LinkedIn
• OpenDNS
• Tumblr
• Twitter
• Yahoo
• Zynga

Defectors

• Business Software Alliance (Includes Apple, Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Intel and more)
• Electronic Arts
• Sony Electronics
• Nintendo
• Go Daddy

Supporters

• ABC
• BMI
• CBS
• Comcast/NBCUniversal
• Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.
• EMI Music Publishing
• Entertainment Software Association
• ESPN
• Major League Baseball
• Marvel Entertainment, LLC
• MasterCard Worldwide
• Motion Picture Association of America
• National Cable & Telecommunications Association
• National Football League
• News Corporation
• Random House
• Scholastic, Inc.
• Sony/ATV Music Publishing
• Sony Music Entertainment
• Time Warner
• Universal Music
• Universal Music Publishing Group
• Viacom
• Visa Inc.

[kingu]

In many states, conviction of a felony disenfranchises you from voting and gun ownership. SOPA plans on making ‘online piracy’ become a felony offense, with little needed for conviction than a statement that you infringed on someone’s copyrights.

Example of infringement: You videotape your daughter and her new husband having their first dance at their wedding, and post this video to Facebook. You have no rights to the song that is playing in the background, and you have just committed a felony under the draconian SOPA rules. It does not qualify as fair use as you add nothing to the creation - it is simply playing in the background, and SOPA would require you to get a one time license of $800 for your posting, else face a felony charge.

SOPA MUST be stopped. Think about sitting on the sidelines, and you'll watch yourself and your friends lose their voting rights and gun rights, all to stop ‘online piracy.’

[spyone]

What about Aaple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon?

[PAR35]

Check the lists for Google - it’s on one of them.

[HiTech RedNeck]

No “undefectors” so far; it would seem like SOPA is slipping like a wet bar of soap. But Congressional shenanigans seem to know no bounds, especially when third parties are pushing and pulling. What is o’Bummer saying about it?

Whatever it was that happened with that jazz preview website (dajazz [sp?]) ought to be the subject of a Congressional investigation before Congress tries to make it any easier to sic ICE on websites for situations that used to be covered by the safe harbor of DMCA (takedown on notify by owner). Allegations abound, but facts are sealed from public eyes. This is not the time for “just trust us.”

[HiTech RedNeck]

Google hates SOPA. It would become a colossal liability and a colossal nuisance.

The anti list should also include FR.

Google (often seen as Big Little Brother) isn’t necessarily everybody’s enemy. They manage to keep their service free by selling ads, which obviously works because they aren’t going away, but it isn’t for everybody (I tried and found it was grossly uneconomical for my purpose). Would it were that capitalism and freedom always found such a comfortable accommodation.

[EGPWS]

The Stop Online Piracy Act's been stirring controversy with its intentions,...

Attorney revenue has skyrocketed because of it.

Not that there is agenda or anything like it involved via ambulance chasers, it's strictly a Constitutional issue for sure. /s

[muawiyah]

Thanks. Everybody’s heard of the Stuntman’s Association, right? If not try their website http://www.stuntmen.com/ Their deal with the producers was pay per performance ~ so they’d perform once for a film, and if an advertisement had to show the same scene, they’d get paid for that as well. for many years they hired people to study all movies, TV and advertising venues to see if their stunt scenes had been used more than once. We can do the same with our written words on the net. Their screen writers copy our stuff. They can pay.

[Thank You Rush]

“”You have no rights to the song that is playing in the background””

I remember years ago the company I worked for had to quit playing music on the telephone system when someone was put on hold....they were pretty nasty about their warnings and I don’t remember who the complaints were from. That was in Southern CA. Today you hear music just about any time someone you’ve called puts you on HOLD.

[smokingfrog]

Seems to be the sports franchises and music industry pushing this. Don’t they have enough copyright protections already?

[MamaDearest]

Seems to be the sports franchises and music industry pushing this. Don’t they have enough copyright protections already?

If they could figure a way to charge people for listening to their personal radios, they'd do it in a heartbeat. The greed is so prevalent I refuse to buy music in any format anymore. Ditto movies, except for the extremely rare excellent film. I hope they copyright themselves out of business.

[emax]

I am not entirely sure that is true . Here is an explanation of how SOPA, when it comes to individuals uploading material, does not make anything a crime that wasnt already highly problematic under current law:

http://www.theverge.com/2011/07/06/senate-bill-978-youtube-video-game-lets-play-videos-illegal/

Of course, it would probably be good to oppose SOPA or at least demand serious reformations so that it smaller websites dont risk losing their revenue at a moment’s notice.