Editor’s Note – on SOPA and PIPA

Yesterday was a significant day on the internet and off. I was off the internet, at least visibly. I did not post anything on any social media sites and I put theindietimes.com and my other sites in maintenance mode with the explanation that the site was down in protest to SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act).

I was, however, watching the activity, even as I held the reins on my desire to participate and comment on the posts related to these bills, as well as other non-related posts of interest to me.

Piracy is an interesting problem. While we generally associate pirates with the Johnny Depp style swashbucklers of the middle ages looking for gold on the high seas, piracy has been in the news a lot in recent months, mostly in the Indian Ocean. The term piracy has been expanded to include any plundering or as reference.com states:

the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book,recording,

television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc.

The interesting thing about an anti-piracy law is that you’d think that the biggest supporters would be the artists of music, photography, literature, film and other industries that stand to lose significant revenue from illegally copied and downloaded works. They, however, are the biggest protestors. Why? Because while the proposed laws sound all warm and fuzzy, promising enforcement of the piracy of intellectual property, the verbiage actually represents the very real threat of censorship for those very same artists. Because so much of their success comes from online promotion, it is a very real threat to their very livelihood. Talk about starving artist.

I would love for you to check out an interesting article published in a Sacramento Music + Art + Lifestyle magazine called Submerge. The article is called The MP3 Manifesto. Curiously, I only came across it today, although I have had the mag in my briefcase since late November. The author argues that saving music (or any intellectual property) is up to us. Let us, artists that we are, advocate for the respect that artists everywhere deserve by giving credit where credit is due, and dollars where dollars are due.

I must make note that The Indie Times has no intention of becoming a politically, racially, or religiously charged publication. Our aim is to bring timely information, news, and entertainment that is pertinent to fans and practitioners of Artistic Genres of all types. However, this issue affects us as a publication that depends on the internet. It affects us as a publication that represents and speaks to YOU, an entity that depends on the internet.

What are your opinions on SOPA and PIPA?

by Michele Jennae: Editor-in-Chief, The Indie Times; Owner, influenSPHERE

Posted by Michele Jennae on January 19, 2012. Filed under Business,Indie News,Michele Jennae,Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry