Finding free music and movies might get much harder to do in the near future as both the US House and Senate seek to pass bills that could close sites which infringe on intellectual properties. The bills have gain massive support from the Entertainment Industry yet has put them at odds with the biggest names online and may potentially lead to changes on well used places like Google's YouTube for uploaded music and videos.
Those in opposition to the bills include the most visited websites online including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, PayPal, LinkedIn and others. In a recent ABC News article Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google said,
“While I support their goal of reducing copyright infringement (which I don’t believe these acts would accomplish), I am shocked that our lawmakers would contemplate such measures that would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world”.
A list of companies opposed to the bills are listed on Google's website.
Today, one big name in particular has decided to stage a preview of what is to come by temporaly blocking their own website. The thought they want to project is "Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge".
So, finding information about your favorite topics and celebrities just got a bit harder today as the english version of the online encylopedia Wikipedia shutdown for 24 hours in protest of US legislation which many internet giants believe will hurt the economy. Wikipedia is the 6th most visited website in the world so the move is aimed at raising as much attention concerning the issue as possible.
They announced on Monday in a statement that their protest is against two bills currently in Congress: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. Each has broad bipartisan support from 40 lawmakers including those from former presidential hopeful John McCain, and senator Joseph Lieberman. However, Wikipedia executives believe that if passed "would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia".
Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director, Sue Gardner, said in a posted statement:
"We support everyone’s right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they can’t pay for it. We believe in a free and open Internet where information can be shared without impediment".
The issue over the last year has gradually heated up and utlimately became not only a political battle but also escalated into a corporate one verse BIG names in the Entertainment & Music Industry. Supporters of legislation include NBCUniversal, Sony, Viacom, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the Motion Picture Association of America, the Directors Guild of America, the American Federation of Musicians, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Screen Actors Guild, Songwriters Guild of America, Recording Industry Association of America, and the Copyright Alliance... to name a few.
Plus, two letters were signed and sent to Congress last year by 170 and 359 businesses and organizations including companies such as Nike, L’Oreal, Pfizer, Ford Motor Company, Revlon, NBA, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. The companies endorsed both Acts and encouraged the passage of legislation to protect intellectual property and shut down rogue websites.
According to one of the letters sent to Congress, these companies monitored the traffic of around 100 'rogue' websites. The study found that these sites attracted more than 53 billion visits per year. They stated that global sales of counterfeit goods through the Internet from illegitimate retailers reached $135 billion in 2010 and has helped the U.S. economy lost $58 billion in total output in previous years.
However, online corporations including Ebay and AOL argue the opposite. They feel that the legislation as is will hurt economic growth that the internet provides. They also oppose the fact that the two bills would force them to be online police and hold them responsible if users of their sites link to pirated content. In a letter to Congress the group explains their position:
We are proud to be part of an industry that has been crucial to U.S. economic growth and job creation. A recent McKinsey Global Institute report found that the Internet accounts for 3.4 percent of GDP in the 13 countries that McKinsey studied, and, in the U.S., the Internet’s contribution to GDP is even larger. If Internet consumption and expenditure were a sector, its contribution to GDP would be greater than energy, agriculture, communication, mining, or utilities. In addition, the Internet industry has increased productivity for small and medium-sized businesses by 10%
Gardner also states that the decision to shut down the English Wikipedia was not made by her. The website held community discussions online to decised the move.
She says, "it was made by editors, through a consensus decision-making process. But I support it".
The White House appears to be supporting the issue as well. In a post on the White House blog, Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Victoria Espinel, Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget, and Howard Schmidt, Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff wrote,
“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”
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