Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : i2C - Internet Infrastructure Coalition : 300 Internet industry execs sign letter opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

[mrcjdawson]

I share with you another exciting announcement we made earlier today:


300 Internet industry executives sign letter opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

– Web hosting, infrastructure experts offer to help make legislation more effective –


McLean, Va., Dec 21, 2011 – The Save Hosting Coalition, a consortium of businesses in the web hosting and Internet infrastructure industries, today announced it has delivered a letter from 300 leading industry executives expressing their opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The Coalition delivered the letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI).

Christian Dawson, one of the founders of the Save Hosting Coalition and Chief Operating Officer of web hosting provider ServInt, said the overriding goal of the letter was to foster communication between the Internet infrastructure industry and legislators responsible for steering the bill through committee.

“PIPA could be brought to the Senate floor for a vote before the end of this month,” Dawson said. “Before any further movement, we need to make sure legislators hear loud and clear that the passage of this legislation would be bad for the American Internet economy, bad for intellectual-property protection, bad for jobs and bad for the country.”

“As SOPA enters another day of Congressional markup, legislators need to understand that – no matter how badly flawed the bill is right now – there still is time to craft legislation that works,” said Dawson. “We strongly urge the Committee to engage with representatives from the Internet industry, so that together we can design a bill that protects intellectual property rights, while preserving America’s leadership position in the Internet economy. The industry is ready, willing and able to help. All Rep. Smith has to do is ask.”

Dawson said that although PIPA is of critical concern in the short term, the Internet infrastructure industry also is concerned about PIPA’s sister bill in the House of Representatives, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The Save Hosting Coalition believes that SOPA has many of the same flaws found in PIPA and it is gathering signatures on a letter opposing it as well.

Download a copy of the letter delivered to Congress opposing SOPA, complete with a list of signatories.

About the Save Hosting Coalition

The Save Hosting Coalition is a consortium of leading companies in the web hosting and Internet infrastructure industries that are working together to make their expertise more readily available to American policy makers. The Coalition’s goal is to help lawmakers produce legislation that protects the rights of intellectual-property holders while protecting America’s status as a leader in the global Internet economy. More information can be found at www.savehosting.org

[Hattrick]

Can somebody explain me the deal about SOPA? I´ve read a few things online (not that accurately, I must admit) and I assume it´s a "bad thing" (yeah, well...) but what is it exactly about? I mean, how is it going to limit internet freedom?

[ServintFritz]

Hattrick, thanks for your question; I'm certain you're not alone in feeling somewhat overwhelmed and confused by this legislation and the thousands of different voices, all shouting at the same time, at the top of their lungs, about why it's so awful.

The bill itself is 78 pages long, and -- like most pieces of legislation -- it's a difficult read. I'll try to distill the over-arching reason why it's so dangerous here, but to get the real skinny on all its many shortcomings, I strongly encourage you to spend a few minutes at http://www.savehosting.org.

In my view, the principal flaw in the bill for those of us in the web hosting industry is that it forces hosts, under threat of legal action, to deny access to sites which third parties have accused -- simply *accused*, mind you -- of containing unauthorized, copyrighted content. It does so in a fashion that pressures hosts to take the most drastic measures possible -- measures that could very well threaten neighboring clients in shared environments who are guilty of no wrongdoing. Lastly, there's this: though the government lets you choose the method by which you deny access to these blacklisted sites, the government decides -- after the fact -- whether you did a good enough job making those sites unavailable. If they find your efforts lacking, you can be sued for being an accessory to the crimes committed by the sites in question.

As I said earlier, this is just one of the reasons why SOPA is a hugely dangerous piece of legislation. Again: head over to http://www.savehosting.org to learn more.

[nibb]

Originally Posted by Hattrick

Can somebody explain me the deal about SOPA? I´ve read a few things online (not that accurately, I must admit) and I assume it´s a "bad thing" (yeah, well...) but what is it exactly about? I mean, how is it going to limit internet freedom?

This may help:
http://youtu.be/hLYgs0xMDm0

Basically any corporation can take any website down, domain registration and DNS changes without any court order and without any prior warning to the domain owners. And it can even sue intermediaries, this means hosting companies or registrars, anyone that provide or what they call facilitate the service.

[DaveDark]

Originally Posted by Hattrick

Can somebody explain me the deal about SOPA? I´ve read a few things online (not that accurately, I must admit) and I assume it´s a "bad thing" (yeah, well...) but what is it exactly about? I mean, how is it going to limit internet freedom?

Imagine digg.com, facebook or youtube being shut down completely because someone posted a copyrighted image or link to a site offering copyrighted video content. Now, imagine that happening without an investigation and without a warrant. That's the kind of unbridled power that SOPA/PIPA offer to US agencies who are barely familiar with the basic concepts behind the net. Scary.

For a good read, check out Tim O'Reilly on why SOPA/PIPA are a waste of time for the US: https://plus.google.com/107033731246...ts/BEDukdz2B1r. For that, imagine the music and movie industries trying to ban VCRs and tapes (which they did).

[ServintFritz]

ServInt COO Christian Dawson explains what's next for SOPA/PIPA, and why today's SOPA postponement can't be taken as a victory: http://blog.servint.net/2012/01/16/w...-the-new-sopa/