Reddit Protesting SOPA

If the SOPA bill passes - and it's uncertain at this point what direction Congress will take on the bill - then internet life as we know it will change forever.  Under the SOPA bill websites that allow users to post information are liable for the information posted.  Most notably, of course, are social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  These companies will be liable for the copyright or trademark infringements of others. 

Hollywood has been strongly behind the passage of SOPA.  They say it is the only way they will be protected from infringements on their products.  The problem is, however, that SOPA uses a nuclear bomb where a scalpel is probably what is called for. 

Under the proposed legislation I predict that websites with blogs that allow user comments will no longer allow users to post such comments.  To allow others to post information to your site is to run the risk that someone will post something that might be interpreted as violative of the trademark and copyrights laws, thus subjecting you to liability.  It's not with the risk.

Reddit posted a blog article yesterday that discusses what they intend to do about the threat of this bill passing.  They plan on blacking out their site from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on January 18th.  You may not think this is a big deal, but trust me when I tell you that it is. 

Reddit is essentially a social networking news site that allows you to post a news article.  Users then vote whether they like your post by voting up or down.  The more ups you get the more prominently your article is displayed.  Many bloggers get their hot topics from Reddit.  Having it shut down for one day will have the biggest impact on bloggers, but will also effect major news organizations that turn to Reddit to monitor and learn what people want to read and hear about.

In the end, I suppose Reddit's position is that if they shut down for a day then their users will contact their representatives and tell them to vote against SOPA.  I don't know that - but suspect that is the goal.  I don't think that will work, but at least they're doing something.  

More information about SOPA can be found here!  (Although the information contained on that official Congressional site is whitewashed to make it sell easier to those who don't care enough to actually investigate what the law will really do to internet users.)

For a well presented discussion of the problems with SOPA read this posting by a Redditor. (WARNING:  While the posting itself is logical and well presented, the emotional responses to the realization of what this law will do to our favorite internet destinations has created a bit of an emotional response from users that contain some rather harsh language.)  Among the problems is that if you post a video to YouTube of your son playing a guitar solo of a copyrighted song - you & YouTube have violated SOPA and face sanctions. 

Oh yeah, perhaps the most damning part of this bill - if a site is found to be be an infringing site (which only requires an accusation, not a criminal or civil finding of any kind), then no other US business can transact business with that site.  Thus, if you want to upload a video to YouTube to market your business, do pay-per-click advertising on a site that caters to your target audience, or place banners on a site you are legally forbidden from doing so if that site has been found to be an infringing site.  Good luck tracking which sites are infringing or not.  The law does not create a protocol for notifying the public or businesses which sites are infringing sites and which ones are safe.