Imagine your world without music... can you be able to live? Information black out has been made.. can you handle the music black out?
This issue might not be new to those everyday surfers in the world of internet. But for some who doesn't know a little bit about this, here is a brief description of the issue:
PIPA
PIPA is an acronym for the Protect IP Act, and was first introduced to the U.S. Senate on May 12, 2011 by Senators Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch, Chuck Grassley. It is also good to take note that PIPA is a re-written legislation, the original being the failed to pass Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) of 2010.
PIPA, if passed, will give U.S. corporations and the government the right to seek affirmative legal action with any website that they see as enabling copyright infringement whether of U.S. origin or not. Here is a breakdown of all that they will have the power to do.
- Force U.S. internet providers to block access to websites deemed as enablers of copyright infringement
- Seek legal action by suing search engines, blog sites, directories, or any site in general to have the black listed sites removed from their website
- Will be able to force advertising services on infringing websites, and those supporting of them, to remove them from their advertising accounts
- Companies will also have the power to sue any new websites that get started after this bill is passed, if they believe that they are not doing a good job of preventing infringement on your website
SOPA
SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act, and is a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Represenative Lamar Smith on October 26, 2011. In similarity with PIPA, SOPA is a build on a previous legislation. This legislation being the PRO-IP Act of 2008.
SOPA, if passed, will work in conjunction with PIPA. As described by such entities as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, SOPA is nothing more so than the U.S. government and private corporations black list. Here is a breakdown of the power given to the government and private corporations.
- The U.S. Attorney General can now seek a court order that would force search engines, advertisers, DNS providers, servers, and payment processors from having any contact with allegedly infringing websites
- It will allow private corporations to create their own personal hit lists composed of websites they feel are breaking their copyright policies, ironically this doesn’t have any odd feelings of a legal mafia at all. These companies will be able to directly contact a website’s payment processors a notice to cut all off payment involvement with the targeted website. This payment processors and website of question will then have five days to act before it is simply taken down.
- Payment processors will have the power to cut off any website they work with, as long as they can provide a strong reason of why they believe this site is violating copyrights
So how does this issue affect our blog and community..?? Well, we are very affected. I must admit that we are not one of those giant music blogs or whatsoever but I think that we contribute a lot in reviving Asian music and spreading it to the whole word. And if this bills passed, we are dead. Our blog will be coming to an end.
As a blogger, our main goal is to share our thoughts to the whole world. And our opinions have a wide effect to our readers. Being a part of the music industry, I have an access to the latest and freshest things going on and it is my duty to share them to the whole world. Unfortunately, we will be under those websites that contains copyright infringement.
What the hell are copyright infringements anyway? These are the copyrights that the protects our favorite artists from being pirated. We hate piracy and illegal downloading so we continue to protest against this illegal acts. But copyright infringements doesn't stop at this. It is only the start... Every lyrics, melodies, compositions, even music videos have their own respective copyrights. Sad to say, sharing them without the knowledge of their companies can be considered as a crime.
In the point of view of a music blogger, there is nothing wrong in what we are doing. In fact we are helping them gain viewers and followers that helps them grow as an artist. We are fans. And it is very impossible to ask permission to post everything.
What is wrong with the world?? I hate to say it but it seems that our blog will be closing soon if this issue will not be resolved.
So I am calling the attention of every music bloggers, musicians or just plain fans. We all love music. We can't live without music. It is our life. Your thought counts... STOP THE SOPA AND PIPA BILL!
Thank you for supporting Taiwan-Pop.
- Justin -
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- Justin -