Yesterday A2IM publicly applauded the House of Representatives’ bill Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Not unexpectedly the blogosphere blazed with misinformation and scary buzz phrases in hopes of blocking this bill by convincing people that it would “put Justin Beiber in jail” and “shut down Twitter and YouTube”. None of which is going to happen, of course, but facts only get in the way when the loss of unlimited, unlicensed free music, movies and other creative content that drive the value of big tech corporation interests is at stake, right?
For those interested in some factual responses to the hysterical cries against SOPA, here are a couple of helpful items. The first is from the Copyright Alliance (of which A2IM is a member). The second is from Copyhype, a respected blog devoted to balanced, in-depth analysis of topics and issues concerning copyright law and its role in a digital era.
Additionally, as evidence that many technologists recognize the value of creators’ contributions and that a lawful Internet serves the interests of legitimate digital businesses as well as creators, Arts + Labs, a coalition comprised of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, AT&T, Broadcast Music, Inc., Cisco, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Songwriters Guild of America, Verizon and Viacom gave its endorsement of SOPA as well.
They joined a long list of organizations who support the Stop Online Piracy Act that includes The Recording Academy, American Federation of Musicians (AFM), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), Screen Actors Guild (SAG), International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the Business Software Association, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), and the RIAA (see HERE for a sample of their statements of support).
