Online News Association Comes Out Against SOPA/PIPA

from the wow dept

Fri, Jan 6th 2012 3:22pm — Mike Masnick

As Lamar Smith continues to live in his fantasy world that there's no real opposition to SOPA, more and more groups keep coming out against it. The latest is a big one -- and a big surprise. The Online News Association has officially come out against both SOPA and PIPA. The letter is thorough, detailed and comprehensive about why the bills are problematic, focusing mainly on SOPA. And it's unequivocal in its condemnation of the bill:

[W]e believe SOPA would do little to stem those problems and would actually cause harm to the Internet and to the American public.

Indeed, the act -- and its counterpart in the Senate, the PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) -- would inappropriately shut down websites, disrupt the free flow of legitimate information and limit Americans from fully exercising their First Amendment rights.

The letter then highlights multiple problems specifically in the bill (contrary to Smith's claim that no one has identified the specific problems of the bill). ONA notes that under SOPA, overblocking will be quite common:

Forcing payment services and ad networks to mete out punishment raises a host of concerns. For starters, SOPA stipulates that any payment service or ad network that fails to comply with a notice served by the copyright owner and based on the court order can be sued for damages and held liable. On the other hand, any service that cuts ties with a suspected site after receiving notice of a court order, may not be sued for damages by that site �for any acts reasonably designed to comply� with the order.

It�s not hard to imagine, then, that a service provider, acting with abundance of caution and out of its own self-interest, will simply cut off services to entire sites that have been accused of infringement, even if the court order only applies to portion of the site. Such actions could even extend to other sites owned by the same entity.

The group also raises concerns about the anti-circumvention provisions (which aren't limited to foreign players) and how that could cause all sorts of problems for those who provide legitimate tools. Following that, they raise key concerns about the impact on social media sites -- which the letter notes is "one of the most profound cultural developments on the web."

This is pretty big. Journalists, as a group, rarely stake out political positions or take official positions on anything political at all. To have them, as a group, come out against SOPA/PIPA shows just what a disaster these bills are. How much longer will the bills' supporters pretend that there isn't widespread opposition? How much longer can Lamar Smith, Bob Goodlatte, Howard Berman and John Conyers ignore the detailed concerns of the American public?

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Filed Under: copyright, free speech, journalists, pipa, protect ip, social media, sopa
Companies: online news association

17 Comments

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Jeremy2020 (profile), 6 Jan 2012 @ 3:28pm

I almost want this to pass so we can see the massive, backlash from the public and watch it have no impact on 'piracy'
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gorehound (profile), 6 Jan 2012 @ 3:39pm

And I do not want this to pass at all.I do want all Americans to know what it is and what they have done here.I want all Americans to demand that all in favor of these draconian Bills be investigated for Ethics Violations.
SOPA/PIPA = WAR
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Anonymous Poster, 6 Jan 2012 @ 3:44pm

How much longer can Lamar Smith, Bob Goodlatte, Howard Berman and John Conyers ignore the detailed concerns of the American public?

How deep are Big Media's pockets?
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 6 Jan 2012 @ 3:58pm

You'll have to speak up.
What's that, Lamar? I can barely hear you over the "piracy apologists."
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2012 @ 4:02pm

Re:
I almost want this to pass so we can see the massive, backlash from the public

I must confess to similar sentiment: It is not, though, that I feel so assured that my countrymen shall rally to the defense of their own ancient liberty, nor even that if they do indeed so rally that I feel so confident of the outcome; but yet that, as I see the present circumstances, this odious measure seems perhaps to offer the best chance to obtain desperately-needed revolution in the political order.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2012 @ 4:09pm

Re: Re:
Sorry to say this, but if this passes you won't see any such thing happen. It won't hit the big sites like, facebook and google, in a way noticable to the average user it'll just cost them lots of money. It's the new and little sites, the ones that would make jobs and spur innovation that'll be destroyed by this, and people just don't miss what they don't ever see. Sure, it'll help push out economy further down the tank, probably into an inevitable depression or even into chaos, but most minds won't make the connection between these bad laws and that chaos.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2012 @ 4:24pm

Re:
Like the massive backlash from the public over the Patriot Act?

Like the massive backlash from the public over the TSA?

Like the massive backlash from the public over the recently-passed NDAA that allows the government to indefinitely detain American citizens without trial?

Shall I go on?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2012 @ 4:26pm

"How much longer will the bills' supporters pretend that there isn't widespread opposition? How much longer can Lamar Smith, Bob Goodlatte, Howard Berman and John Conyers ignore the detailed concerns of the American public?"

Why assume that they care?
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bjupton (profile), 6 Jan 2012 @ 5:21pm

Look, there's widespread opposition to all sorts of things that these clowns do.

That hasn't stopped them yet.

There's widespread support for a host of other things.

That hasn't meant that the government has addressed them.

Corrupt and disconnected.
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CK20XX, 6 Jan 2012 @ 5:28pm

I have on occasion shared the sentiment of wishing these bills would pass just to see the backlash, but it's probably because SOPA/PIPA are symptoms of the diseases the USA presently suffers from. As one witnesses these disasters accumulate, there emerges the desire to just tear everything down and start all over.

But of course, if I were to give in to those anarchistic urges, people would just look at my corpse and say that video games made me do it, which is ANOTHER thing that really gets my goat. It's not just violence debates that haven't matured.
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Hephaestus (profile), 6 Jan 2012 @ 9:42pm

One of the huge problems with big news media supporting SOPA - PIPA
When the DHS came for the file sharers,
I remained silent;
I was not a file sharer.

When they came for the infringing site admins,
I did not speak out;
I was not a infringing site admin.

When they locked up the social site admins,
I remained silent;
I was not a social site admin.

When they came for the Reporters,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Reporter.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

They do not realize how they have no freedom of speech when it passes.
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Hephaestus (profile), 6 Jan 2012 @ 9:50pm

Re: One of the huge problems with big news media supporting SOPA - PIPA
I think this is what the online news association realized.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2012 @ 1:17am

Re: Re:
What do you think Occupy is?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2012 @ 5:54am

Re:
Seeing that they are obviously extremely well-fed and well-clothed, and drive very, very fine cars, I think they stopped caring about the people who actually put them in office the day after they occupied it.
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The Devil's Coachman (profile), 7 Jan 2012 @ 5:57am

Re: Re: One of the huge problems with big news media supporting SOPA - PIPA
Unfortunately, I doubt they can afford to buy the legislators in the quantities the MAFIAA can, so it is probably too little, too late.
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John Doe, 7 Jan 2012 @ 1:32pm

I call BS on this statement
This is pretty big. Journalists, as a group, rarely stake out political positions or take official positions on anything political at all

I agree with most of what you write most of the time, but I have to call BS on this statement. Newspapers back candidates for office all the time. Why I don't know as you can't maintain any kind of unbiased opinion (not that they even try). So yes, they take clear positions on politics all the time, especially in an election year.
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Gene Cavanaugh (profile), 7 Jan 2012 @ 7:39pm

How long will SOPA and PROTECT-IP be supported in Congress?
As long as Hollywood pays them.
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