FAQ: About the SOPA bill

The Online Stop Online Piracy Act recently published on the Internet has caused an extraordinary storm of protest. Many in this project see a cynical attempt by the entertainment industry to impose a kind of Internet censorship. Proponents of the same bill believe that it is necessary in order to prevent the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars from copyright holders. These statements are the cause of disputes between the two parties.

Below are the answers to questions that you may have while reading the news about the bill.

What does SOPA mean?

SOPA - an abbreviation of Stop Online Piracy Act. This is a bill designed to make the process of selling counterfeit music, films and drugs more difficult. Sites selling unlicensed content are believed to be sources of multi-million dollar losses.
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So if blocking such sites is good, why are there so many people against it?

Because they believe that the solution proposed by the bill is worse than the abundance of such sites. Many fear that SOPA will give content owners and providers too much power - they will be able to shut down websites if they only suspect that pirated content is displayed on the site.

Why do they think so?

First of all, because of the 103 section of the project, which refers to the cessation of cash flow to the content of the site, on which unlicensed content is seen.

I do not really understand, explain again.

The 103rd section gives the right to the owner of any intellectual property to require payment systems, banks and advertising providers to block the account of a person or company on whose site the pirated content is supposedly located.

Do not copyright holders need a court to close an account?

Not really. The site owner is given five days for which he must remove illegal content from the site, or he will be prosecuted.

Is this the only cause for concern?

SOPA will also allow the state to force providers to block DNS, exclude such sites from being indexed by search engines and take other "reasonable and possible" measures to cut off access to the site from the States. By the way, foreign sites whose servers are located in the United States will be equally responsible for pirated content as if they were based in the United States.

And in fact, is this not the most effective way to deal with pirated sites?

While most of the sites are located far from US law, perhaps, but, according to critics, the problem of SOPA is that the act makes US companies also available for various actions by right holders. The bill applies to all "American-directed" sites, and this can be any site that is not closed to US citizens. So, in theory, YouTube, Flickr or Ebay may be subject to claims by the copyright holders.

Doesn't the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provide protection to site owners from similar laws if the content is not hosted by them, but by users?

Yes, DMCA protects site owners from liability for user-uploaded content. For example, YouTube will not be responsible for the video posted by any user if this video violates the rights of the content holders, but YouTube will be asked to remove the video. Although, even if the video is not deleted by the administrators, the right holders will not be able to sue the site.

So, it turns out that US websites will be protected from SOPA?

Not really. Critics argue that SOPA will bypass the rules of the DMCA and, if the right holders notice their content on any site, they can sue the site where the content was posted, and not the user who uploaded it.

Yes, they just make fear, is not it?

Proponents of the project believe that SOPA is focused on the worst examples of pirated sites, the main purpose of which is to provide unlicensed content, and not to sites that only post pirated content from time to time.

How can, in accordance with the law, defend oneself from legal proceedings in your direction?

The site owner must, within five to seven days, provide a written explanation of why the rights of content holders have been violated and why they should not be held accountable for it. This procedure is available thanks to US laws, and foreign owners will first be asked to accept case management in accordance with US laws.

Is there any other protection?

The bill will require the plaintiff to first collect evidence that there was a violation, from providers, payment systems, etc.

Who is behind SOPA?

SOPA was proposed in the House of Representatives by Lamar Smith (Lamar Smith) in collaboration with John Conier, Bob Goodlatt, Howard Berman, and other representatives of the House, with the support of the US Chamber of Commerce, the US Association of Film Companies and Recording Studios on October 26, 2011.

And who then against SOPA?

Many people, including freedom of speech and law fighters, scientists, lawyers and some of the largest web companies are Google, Yahoo, Facebook and others.

So what will happen to SOPA?

The House Legal Committee held a hearing on the case on Wednesday, but it’s unclear when it’s going to be voted on to approve the draft.

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Source , author: Jaikumar Vijayan

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