Stop Online Piracy Act

So following the temporary retreat of those leading the charge on PIPA and SOPA, the next big internet story was that the federal government dropped the hammer on filesharing site MegaUpload yesterday. The site's domain names were seized, more than $50 million in assets were confiscated and the Justice Department got police in New Zealand to arrest four of the site's employees, including its founder. This was a big win for the entertainment companies and for the Justice Dept., who had been in a battle with MegaUpload for quite some time.

 

Within minutes, hackers associated with the group Anonymous had used a rather simple hacker trick to take down the internet sites of the FBI and Justice Department, the RIAA, the MPAA and several companies who had taken part in the case against MegaUpload.

 

My point here is not to argue which is right and which is wrong -- that should speak for itself -- but that we're currently in a bad place. We've seen the beginning of what I fear could be an escalation. The Justice Department, following new laws lobbied for and pushed through by entertainment companies, will continue to try and enforce tougher and tougher controls while a growing and increasingly upset group continues to wreak havoc across the internet for those attempting to control it.

 

The shutdown of MegaUpload demonstrated that the system is in place to take down those sites that are actually responsible for enabling rampant online piracy and they don't need SOPA or PIPA to do it. But it looks as though Congress and their big donors from Hollywood are going to continue demanding tighter and tighter controls... controls which will do little to stop ACTUAL online piracy. Their effect will almost certainly mean an escalation in this absurd conflict between those demanding absolute content control and those demanding an absolutely free "Wild West" internet. Neither side will get what they want.

I pointed out in my letters and emails to the trio of Rubio, Nelson, and Bilirakis that very thing.