SOPA NOPA

    Every type of media has one time or another been put under the microscope.  I could remember the record industry being in the spotlight back in 1985.  A group called the PRMC (Parents Resource Music Center) fought to have warnings put on album jackets that contained violent and/or offensive lyrics/subject matter.  This was a form of censorship and I couldn’t help but wonder to myself, who would interpret what was violent or offensive? 

    More recently there is a House Bill called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) that is trying to censor the Internet by blocking sites that contain copyrighted material.  In the film Good Copy Bad Copy they talk about how the United States does not own the Internet and cannot tell anyone outside of its boarders what to do.  If I had to take a stand on a bill like SOPA I would have to say I was against it in its present form.  If you want to learn a little more on the subject follow this link for comments and an informative video: http://goo.gl/yzkyC 

    I don’t believe its right to block someone from any website that they choose to visit.  The film and music industry has taken a huge hit because of piracy issues.  I think the numbers are a little skewed though.  I think that when they talk about their losses they assume that everyone that downloaded a free song or movie would have done so even if they had to pay for it.  That simply is not true.  Once in a while the hospital I work for has free coffee for anyone that wants a cup.  I could tell you that on those days there are a lot more coffee drinkers just because it is free.  I think the same is true for the music and movie downloader’s.  If it wasn’t free you would see a lot less of it.

    I want everyone to get paid for the work they do but having a bill like SOPA is not the way to go about it.  A great idea that would generate income for the industry was mentioned in the Good Copy Bad Copy movie.  It was a yearly affordable fee to download as much content as you wanted to.  I think this is probably the way to go but we are far from that solution yet.  Face it, we live in the “Wild Wild Web” and anything goes…..for now.