On Wednesday, January 18, a number of high-profile websites were blacked out in a sign of protest against proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress. The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act have received a swarm of controversy. Critics argue the bills will stifle innovation, impose new regulation and limit the freedom of the internet, and supporters contend the bills - or similarly protective legislation - are needed to curb the scourge of web-based piracy and intellectual property theft.
Current copyright law demands that content creators identify copyright infringement and target offending web sites. SOPA and PIPA, however, would shift the responsibility to search engines and individual web sites by allowing the federal government to block sites that host copyright-infringing content, the Washington Post reports. This may also force new compliance burdens on small business owners.
"That means vetting every word, every outgoing web link or product supplier to make sure they are in compliance with intellectual copyright laws," writes Heather Clancy for ZD Net. "Since this is something that you might outsource today, you'll need to double down on your management of site content issues."
Even if your company is not directly involved in the creation of digital content, which SOPA supporters claim is the motivation behind the bill, you may still be at odds with anti-censorship partners or customers. An entrepreneur looking to incorporate in California, for example, may be forced to confront the matter.
The issue has had a polarizing effect, and many small firms wishing to stay out of the discussion have been forced to add their two cents. Last year, web host Go Daddy suffered the loss of at least 27,000 domains due to its involvement with and support of SOPA and PIPA.
With these stakes in mind, sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, Wired, Mozilla, MoveOn and others have all taken down their sites and replaced them with information about SOPA and PIPA, and how opponents can contact their representatives to voice their concerns.
Already, the reactions of the community have had an impact, with many supporters of anti-piracy law blaming the proposed legislation for overreaching. In fact, last weekend, the White House reported that although online piracy is a serious problem, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression."
Tags : compliance, finance, LLC, LP, California
Posted: 01/18/2012