Website of the House of representatives will be dark for a day in protest over the Bill. Not just a social networking site and copyright infringers will be distracted by the Bill, but the company website, blog, and intranet could be affected if the Bill both got through.
While on life support and SOPA PIPELINE has lost some of their sponsors, it’s important to understand what entertainment industry lobbyists are trying to push in the text of these bills and how it can affect your business.
The PIPELINE is specific legislation that would target the non-domestic websites like The Pirate Bay are engaging in copyright infringement. However, the language in the bill offers a vague definition of this site that could mean that Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, and other sites where information is freely shared may be referred to as site violations. Additionally, any sites linked to the site was declared the infringer can be shut down entirely by command submitted no companies or individuals who run the site, but for their web hosting company.
While similar language SOPA’s, cast a wider net and create a search engine, Internet service provider, the provider of Internet advertising, and payment provider (such as PayPal) law enforcement’s dirty work. Like the PIPE, which is what language that is a copyright violation is unclear and seems to be left until the rule of law and the plaintiffs.
Many business owners who shrug and say “well, they have to catch online pirates.” I’m not going to agree on that point. As someone who has pirated my written material which is, I’m not completely against the concept of being able to actually do something to someone rips me off. Right now my choices are the DMCA takedown notice and only it, as it tries to sues websites that plagiarize content like playing whack-a-mole.