There’s a lot of talk going around the internet today about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) .. sites are blacking out for the day in protest, and co-sponsors of the bill are starting to drop their support as the internet heats up and people become increasingly vocal in their disapproval of the bill. But what does it all mean? On the surface, it seems perhaps like a good thing, right? (no one wants stuff to be pirated or copyright violations to occur on the internet). As photographers, we especially don’t appreciate someone stealing our work and reusing it in a manner inconsistant with our terms, or worse – calling it their own.
So why is SOPA so bad then?
It’s bad because it censors the internet in America in the same way that China, Iran, and Syria do .. through a thing called DNS blocking. A few complaints from people that a site is hosting something illegally could get it shut down without investigation or due process. Think about the effect this could have on .. oh, I don’t know – PINTEREST?? We all like to pin our favorite stuff there, right? A Pinterest user pins something and violates a copyright through doing so, someone files a complaint and bam, Pinterest is now shut down – without further questioning. Thousands of other users can no longer access or use Pinterest, because their DNS has been blocked. In this hypothetical situation, Pinterest wasn’t even really at fault, but sites who host content from other places are some of the most vulnerable. Social media could be hugely affected (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc) since most of these sites link content from other sites as well and are way too large to mega-police every one of their users. There’s a great info-graphic on the full effect of what would could happen here.
The internet has been a free and open place to share information. These laws, if passed – could change that very quickly, and affect businesses who make their living off the internet as well as the future of social networks.
How does this affect wedding professionals or photographers?
One of the best articles I’ve seen posted today about how this could affect us as wedding professionals, was posted by Liene at Think Splendid. In it, she talks about how something as simple as an Etsy purchase could bring legal action and website shut-downs to an entire collection of vendors who were involved in a wedding. You can read the article here, or click the image below.
Now, how about something beautiful to look at today? Our friend Kathy over at Petals by KC has some beautiful new vintage bridal headpieces, and last week at the Art after Dark, we took a few pics of them with her daughter Mandi modeling them. Isn’t it beautiful?
Have a wonderful day, and don’t forget to call and write your representatives today and tell them you want to keep the internet as a free and open place for sharing.
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