What makes SOPA and PIPA a good or bad?

SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act, and is a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Represenative Lamar Smith on October 26, 2011. Originally, the majority of technology corporations that put their input into these bills, were in support of it. Companies like Apple, Intel, Corel, Dell, Microsoft, Adobe, and 23 other big name tech companies are supporters under the BSA(Business Software Alliance). However, there is still hope in the realm of big name support of tech giants. Two of the biggest in Mozilla and Google, have gone public with their issues with these bills and their reasons why they can no longer offer their support after further research was done. PIPA, if passed, will give U.S. corporations and the government the right to seek affirmative legal action with any website that they see as enabling copyright infringement whether of U.S. origin or not.

In addition, SOPA and PIPA confer a private right of action by an IP owner against an infringing foreign host. This right of action is called the “market-based” enforcement authority. Any “qualified plaintiff” (or person who has been damaged by the theft of intellectual property) may bring a civil action for relief against a foreign-hosted website. Private civil enforcement actions to enforce intellectual property rights require federal court space and time, but do not require a designated team of U.S. attorneys to prosecute them. In private civil actions, IP owners bear their own costs of bringing a suit. In that regard, our legal system will only be tied up with these suits to the extent IP owners value bringing suits to protect their property. If their property has no value, no suit will be brought. Hence, this is called the “market-based” enforcement authority.

SOPA and PIPA also confer immunity to internet service providers who take action pursuant to a court order, or who voluntarily block access or end their financial affiliation to a site dedicated to the theft or infringement of U.S. property. This a good thing because it means that internet service providers cannot be liable for complying with the law (Morgan, 1).

The Bad: A Cost of Tens Of Millions Of Dollars

As stated above, SOPA & PIPA give the U.S. Attorney General the obligation to enforce IP rights against foreign hosts. Of course, the AG's office - like any other federal office - is one of finite resources. It cannot address every violation of IP rights or prosecute every theft of U.S. property. SOPA and PIPA therefore beg the question: “How much money will the AG's office need to carry out its duties under these bills, and how can we ensure that tax money is not being wasted protecting the IP rights of persons who are capable of bringing their own 'market-based' enforcement actions, or protecting IP rights not worth protecting?”

What Congress and the entertainment industry want you to believe is that SOPA and PIPA are about stopping online piracy. They argue that it ...