Stop Online Piracy Act

Many of you may have seen other websites blacked out today for the SOPA Blackout Day and to protest against SOPA.  Consumerqueen.com decided to instead take a moment to educate you about what SOPA is and what it means to you.

WHAT IS SOPA?

SOPA is actually House Bill 3261

WHO STARTED SOPA?

Texas Representative Lamar Smith introduced this bill on October 27, 2011.  It has 31 co-sponsors.  The co-sponsors are: Nevada Representative Mark E Amodei, California Representative Joe Baca, Georgia Representative John Barrow, California Representative Karen Bass, California Represenatative Howard L. Herman, Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn, California Representative Mary Bono Mack, Texas Representative John R. Carter, Ohio Representative Stave Chabot, California Representative Judy Chu, Michigan Representative John Conyers Jr, Tennessee Representative Theodore E Deutch, California Representative Elton Gallegy, Virginia Representative Bob Goodlatte, Arkansas Representative Tim Griffin, Pennsylvania Representative Peter T. King, Connecticut Representative John B. Larson, New Mexico Representative Ben Ray Lujan, Pennsylvania Representative Tom Marino, Mississippi Representative Alan Nunnelee, New York Representative William L. Owens, Arizona Representative Benjamin Quayle, Florida Representative Dennis Ross, Louisianna Representative Steve Scalise, California Representative Adam B. Schiff, California Representative Brad Sherman, Nebraska Represetative Lee Terry, Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz and North Carolina Representative Melvin L Watt.

OK, well it is not like there are pirates online .....right?

Actually, yes there are "pirates" online.  While some of the items found on websites, like Consumerqueen.com, can be found on other websites such as the coupon matchups and the deals other items are the intellectual property of Melissa Garcia aka The Consumer Queen and her Princesses.  These "pirates" will come and take the articles and blog posts we wrote and post them on their website and claim the posts as their own personal property, just like pirates would steal the bounty of ships in open waters.  Another way these "pirates" get material is to "r@pe" or scrape a website which means taking pictures or material and changing a few words so it does not match exactly.  Some people have even found that their intellectual property turned into e-books by other people and other people are profiting off their intellectual property and not crediting them in any way nor reimbursing them for the use of their work.

OK...so there are "pirates" online what is SOPA all about?

I think OpenCongress.org says it best when they said:

This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringment. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have "only limited purpose or use other than infringement," and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills -- S.968 and S.978 -- into one big House bill.

Basically in layman's terms that means if the Department of Justice were to determine that a blog or any website's sole function was copyright infringement they could close it down.  They could actually have the website owner charged with a felony and have them spend up to five years in prison.

OK....that is clear as mud what does it really mean?

SOPA infringes on the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am1.html

SOPA also charges website owners with the crime if the user posts copyrighted information on the website.  For example, take consumerqueen.com...supposed fan SillySally comes and posts copyrighted information from Company JFG.  The Department of Justice could shut down Consumerqueen.com and impose a prison sentence up to five years on Melissa.  Is that fair?  Now, I am sure that SillySally posting just one thing would not cause a problem; however, there are no guidelines set to say how much is too much and when the Department of Justice steps in or if they even issue a Cease and Desist Letter in advance of taking action.

Now think about another problem....the world wide web is also thought of as the interwebs.  Think about webs....webs are tangled bits of string.  It is almost impossible to untangle everything without causing problems.  If the Department of Justice were to start shutting down websites what will happen to other websites that are connected to the one shut down?

What if the Department of Justice shuts down a website in error?  Nothing is infallible.  So, if they shut down Consumerqueen.com will they reimburse Melissa for the lost revenue during the time the website was shut down?  How do you compensate for lost followers?  If people repeatedly attempt to access this website and they are unsuccessful they will stop trying.  How can the government pay that back?

So, what can I do about it?

Speak out!  Let your voice be heard.  Remember YOU elected these people into Congress.  They are called REPRESENTATIVES which means they represent YOU!  Write them and tell them that you disagree with them supporting and passing House Bill 3261.  You can find your Representative's Contact information at http://www.house.gov/

(I hope this made sense!--It is probably clear as mud to most people.  Sorry my mind sometimes over thinks things even when I try to explain them simply!  ~Princess Karen)

Tagged as: SOPA explained

About the Author

Princess Karen has written 847 posts on ConsumerQueen.com.

Karen is a ConsumerQueen.com Princess and is our Frugal Expert! Karen also works on CQ Charity Events. Karen also writes for MetroFamily.com. *Click below to send Karen a Deal.*

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