While the acronyms of SOPA and PIPA have been used often in the media in recent weeks, many folks have raised the question as to where internet piracy falls into current laws.
The battle for control of intellectual property is nothing new. Intellectual property refers a variety of items such as books, movies, music, and computer software. The concept of protecting intellectual property dates back to May 1790, when Congress enacted the first federal copyright law. Many of the current standards of basic copyright principles were established in the Copyright Act of 1976.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
In 1998, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) attempted to clarify the Copyright Act of 1976 as it applies to issues of the digital world. The provisions of DMCA have been the source of much controversy since they went into effect in 2000. Many groups complain that the DMCA is tilted too much in the favor of the copyright holder.
The first issue that the DMCA tackled was make it more difficult for copyright pirates to copy protected works, and to make it illegal to sell any software or hardware that defeated copy protection,
The other main issue of the DMCA was to address the concept of internet piracy. The DMCA made it much easier for a copyright holder to request a website be shut down. Under DMCA Internet sites are required to take down links to specific pirated material when asked to do so by a copyright holder.
DOJ tackles intellectual property crime
The United States Department of Justice has a computer crime and intellectual property section devoted to intellectual property crime. The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center works with various agencies to combat intellectual property crime.
Within the guidelines of current laws websites accused of selling copyrighted materials and counterfeit products have been shutdown by the Justice Department. In recent years Cyber Monday, the most profitable day of the year for online retailers, has been the day for massive sweeps. On Cyber Monday of 2011 the US Justice Department in cooperation with other agencies shut down 150 pirate websites. Cyber Monday 2010 brought the shutdown of 83 websites suspected of intellectual property violations.
The bottom line
Some folks would argue we don't need SOPA and PIPA because there are already laws that deal with internet piracy. The entertainment industry argues that they need stronger laws because they are losing too much business to the internet pirates and they think the current laws are not strong enough to protect their intellectual property.
What is lost in all the fighting over internet piracy in recent days is that war over Internet regulation is not a short term bandwagon ride. Some of us didn't just jump on the wagon, we've been riding on it for years. We have been watching the issues simmer since the DMCA first addressed them in 1998. Regardless of what comes out of the current session of Congress, the questions, and battle, on how to deal with copyright pirates will be ongoing.
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