Wikipedia and other powerful Internet sites held a self imposed blackout today.
The protests were designed to show Internet users what it would be like if the government were able to shut down certain websites or parts of websites.
“What you’re seeing is the entertainment industry against the technology industry,” says Mike Johansson, a social media expert and professor at RIT.
In 2002, 13WHAM News conducted a hidden camera investigation and discovered tables full of bootlegged movies for sale at the Rochester Public Market. Today, 10 years later, rogue websites make it easy to instantly find and download pirated copies of movies, music and TV shows.
Last year online piracy of music cost the music industry an estimated $12.5 billion. “They’re losing hundreds of millions and billions of dollars,” says Johansson. “They say the government should be able to go in and preemptively shut down sites that are known carriers.”
The key word: Preemptively.
The legislation to fight piracy (Stop Online Piracy) –the way that it’s written- allows the government to shut down a site now, and investigate later. It also doesn’t target the content – it targets the site carrying the content.
Because of that many fear it could also shut down social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, even for users who are not illegally sharing content.
Take Youtube for example. If someone put up copyrighted images they did not own, the government could shut down the entire site and then investigate. Youtube, for everyone, gone.
Same for Facebook, and for Twitter.
“It’s a bill put together by people who don’t understand the internet,” says Art Wheat. He runs a web development business and relies on social media sites to find new customers.
“I’m concerned that SOPA could put us out of business,” he says.
