My Personal Reaction to SOPA/Protect-IP

[valyssia]

This is a reply to a comment that was left on my Dreamwidth journal by next_to_normal. She has a different view on the SOPA/Protect-IP bill which she shares here. I’m retorting in a regular entry because I believe this worth sharing. As a comment, it would most likely be missed.

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So what you’re saying is that you implicitly trust the government to have your best interests at heart?

Honestly, it doesn’t matter how overly-dramatized this video is. I recognized that it was a bit silly when I posted it. The heart of that bill is censorship and you cannot convince me that’s a good thing. Don’t even try. Historically, if you look at the practices of government, you’ll notice a trend. The people give them power and ultimately they abuse it. The world is an unfair place because we make it so.

That this bill is being pushed by the entertainment industry does not bode well. That they stapled ‘protecting consumers’ into the content just tells me that they are being underhanded. They want to sneak the bad idea past on the heels of something that they can present in a positive light. Why else would the two things be mixed? If this just about stopping counterfeit goods, the public reaction would be entirely different.

Were this related to books and not the internet, which section of your local library would you ask that they burn first? There are good things and bad things available in print too. Do you think that they should be able to choose what those things are and limit their availability?

I recognize that this sounds alarmist. You’re welcome to berate me for that, but I honestly worry about resources we have right now that could be affected. You may’ve noticed that I have an interest in BuffyWorld. Under the current laws, Fox could ask us remove content. And of course, we would. It would be regrettable, but we would do the responsible thing.

Under this new law, as I understand it, the entertainment industry could have BuffyWorld taken down. They would simply have to say that it presents copyrighted material. The scary thing for Howard and me is the threat of fines and jail time.

It’s a bloody fan site!

Neither one of us can afford legal council to advise us what the ramifications might be. Neither one of us has a law degree. We are forced to wade through piles of articles in order to glean this information secondhand. And right now from what I’m seeing, the intelligent thing will be for us to take the site down should this law pass.

It’s a bloody fan site that has been around for over a decade in nearly the same form. Our community has come to depend on it and in a way love it. We love it. Why else would we spend so much time trying to improve the content?

Tell me how that’s right? Prove it to me.

I’m not in favor of piracy either, which is of course where the heart of this bill lies, but I can’t help thinking that they are going about this the wrong way.

Comments

[next_to_normal]

Well, okay. I didn't set out to be the anti-piracy spokesperson in fandom here. I do that enough at work. But since you're referring directly to me, I feel like I have to respond, if only to reassure you that you're freaking out over nothing. :)

Frankly, most of the arguments sound alarmist and overly dramatic to me, because I do know what's actually in the bill and a lot of the claims are just blatantly false. That's not to say that I think the bill's perfect or I haven't heard any legitimate concerns voiced. I have, and I'm certainly open to suggestions that improve the bill. But the VAST majority of it is deliberate exaggeration and misleading information designed to do exactly this - to scare innocent people like you into thinking you're gonna get hauled off to prison for having a fansite. It's simply not true.

I don't think it'll do any good to go over the arguments again, since they're all there in my post and on the website I linked to in that post, so I'll cut right to the "relevant to you" part:

This law will have zero impact on BuffyWorld. Let me repeat that. This law will have ZERO impact on BuffyWorld. Here's why: BuffyWorld is a dot-com, which means it's a domestic website. That means it's already subject to laws regarding infringing content on the internet. The PROTECT IP Act and Stop Online Piracy Act target foreign websites - precisely because current laws do not give ICE the jurisdiction to pursue foreign site owners. They register the sites in countries that have weaker or nonexistent copyright protection so the U.S. can't touch them.

If - and that's a BIG if, and I'll get to that in a minute - BuffyWorld were considered an infringing site, you are in no more danger of being shut down or fined or arrested under PROTECT IP than you are right now, today. So while you certainly can be skeptical and concerned about the bill's impact and consequences, you should know that your personal fear is unfounded.

Now, as to whether or not BuffyWorld would be considered an infringing site. Yes, there is copyrighted content on it. BUT - and this is the part a lot of people seem to be overlooking - it's not a commercial site. The goal here is not to ruin people's fun; it's to make sure that these site owners aren't making a profit off stolen or counterfeit goods.

Furthermore, BuffyWorld doesn't provide free downloads or streaming of episodes, which is really the biggest source of digital piracy. That's what we want to stop. But you actually direct visitors to Amazon.com to BUY the DVDs. That's a GOOD THING. That's exactly what people mean when they talk about the benefits of fandom for free advertising.

You're not selling anything, you don't have any ads, and you state on the site that it's not for profit. Why would Fox care about the site? Frankly, the revenue loss (from the sale of official published scripts, if indeed Fox gets any revenue from that) is so minimal that it wouldn't be worth the legal fees to sue you.

Could Fox ask you to take the site down? Sure. They can do that today, and they'll be able to do the same thing if the bill passes. But they obviously haven't yet - and they won't, because you're small potatoes in the piracy world.

Granted, I'm not a lawyer, but I do talk about this all day. And if by some remote chance you do run into trouble, I'll be the first in line to pay your legal fees.

[valyssia]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I never meant to single anyone out. It just couldn't be helped. I certainly didn't mean it in a malicious way, but I believe that you got that.

We're just not certain that with the additional level of threat that a law like this would represent that it would be sensible to continue to offer the content we do. We're both fully aware that the scripts and even the screen captures are copyrighted material.

Our intent is in no way malicious on this account either.

That the material is presented in a way in which we credit the source and direct people to buy the DVDs is hardly relevant. It is what it is and the dogs are rabid. You'll have to excuse us if we believe petting them to be unwise.

[next_to_normal]

I get that you want to be cautious, but it also assumes that big production companies are going to come after you just to be petty. Which... doesn't seem likely to me. And I don't think it's being idealistic or implicitly trusting the government to think that - it's all a numbers game, and in your case, the numbers don't add up.

Fox isn't going to make any money by shutting you down; they'd almost certainly lose money when you factor in legal fees. So what benefit is there to them in going after BuffyWorld? None, except to say "muahahaha" and enjoy the satisfaction of crushing the little people. I just can't see a profit-driven corporation doing that. We all like to joke about how Fox is evil for canceling our shows, but they're not, y'know, literally evil. They're not actually out to get us. They're just focused on their bottom line.

Which means they're going to focus their time and effort where the money is - and that's the big download and streaming sites, like TVShack and Pirate Bay and Isohunt and eztv.

Believe me, no one knows better how the entertainment industry screws people over than the actors and directors and cameramen, etc. who are actually employed by them. Which is what makes it remarkable that labor unions and management are standing side by side on this issue. Usually we're the ones calling them greedy and corrupt, while trying to choke out enough pennies to make a decent living. :) But in this case, they're being attributed a degree of maliciousness that IMO is a bit unrealistic.

[valyssia]

Yes, but then there's also our bottom line to consider.

Are we offering copyrighted material?

Yes.

Is there a reasonable defense against a straightforward, affirmative answer?

No. Our defense would have to be quite twisted indeed and therefore expensive.

Does this legislation stand to cut out the necessity of a 'cease and desist letter' as part of the steps necessary to take legal action?

Yes, by my understanding they will simply be able to block the site and start legal proceedings.

Do either of us have the money necessary to wage a lengthy legal battle in which we are ultimately culpable?

No. Making rent is a problem. How the hell would we do that?

Our reaction might be viewed by you as ‘alarmist’ and that's fine, but from where we sit the risk far outweighs the reward.

What reward?

The fandom occasionally regards us as kind people who provide a service. That's nice of course, but that 50 cents still won't get me a cup of coffee in this town.

If this law passes, we believe that the most reasonable response on our part will be to take the site down, gut it, and then bring it back up as a stripped, opinion based, informational resource offering reviews and the like.

It won't be the same.

Your reassurances are of course appreciated. The spirit in which they're offered is quite kind. However, small potatoes are still potatoes. Hungry people will still eat them.

Thank you again.

[next_to_normal]

Just one more thing and then I will leave you alone, haha.

Yes, by my understanding they will simply be able to block the site and start legal proceedings.

That's actually not the case. Under this legislation, private rights-holders ONLY have the ability to get a court order forcing payment processors and ad networks to stop doing business with a site (which, since you don't use those, wouldn't affect you). They cannot get search engines or ISPs to block the site. Only the Attorney General has the authority to do that, and it's even less likely that DOJ would care about your site than it is that Fox would.

But again, that's for foreign sites. As I said, ICE technically already has the authority to shut you down, if they wanted to, which suggests to me that you're safe.

[valyssia]

Again, thank you. We'll have to see how it plays out.

I honestly don't believe that we're alone in feeling that we should be cautious. I suspect that should this bill become law, you will see many unexpected repercussions.

I just can't view it as a positive thing. My inherent, well earned cynicism won't allow it.