SOPA & PIPA—It does matter to us gamers!

First off– SOPA  & PIPA at their core are both great ideas—what they in essence want to do is cut down on the online piracy of independent properties like music, games, movies and software that is rampant on the internet. SOPA & PIPA are pretty much the same bill in case you were wondering. They are just names for the bills in their respective chambers of congress. Where the vocal majority takes issue is in the thought of censoring the internet and its content with SOPA & PIPA.

So why should you give a damn about the Stop Online Piracy Act & Protect Independent Property Act? Well like I said, at their hearts the bills have good intentions, but the implications that come after that are where the problem exists. Many of the things that we gamers take for granted could potentially be taken away. I know many of us have referenced YouTube when we are stuck at a certain level or want to find out how the mechanics of a boss fight go in our favorite MMO. Under the SOPA & PIPA laws we may potentially have to go without that despite it really not harming anyone. This is because the footage you are watching is actually the game developer’s property. Now that’s not to say that Blizzard Entertainment will be so bold as to tell us to take it all down, but that possibility is there. The issue is that, in this case, YouTube is liable for that content being placed on their site and they will have to deal with the consequences of having someone’s IP posted on their site. So from a business standpoint YouTube’s smart move would be to disallow the posting of anything that is footage of some other companies IP.

Another aspect of this that is troublesome for gamers is when it comes to seeing reviews and things like that. A lot of people don’t care to go to the major gaming sites for our reviews. They are allowed to use images and footage from the games they are reviewing because they were given permission. That really is the proper way to do things, but to many this means that they are conducting a bias review of a product because without the footage from their games it is just a bland article. The basis for this bill is enclosed in a letter written to congress on behalf of over 50 different companies that feel they are being stolen from because their products are being downloaded illegally on torrent websites across the internet. In the study those companies did they found the following:

“A study examined approximately 100 rogue sites and found that these sites attracted more than 53 billion visits per year. That averages about 9 visits for every man, woman, and child on Earth.”

What their own study found is that their losses come at the hands of “100 Rogue Sites.” A company trying to eliminate loses in profit due to piracy is absolutely warranted, but trying to solve the problem with one sweeping bill leaves too many avenues open for censorship of the internet. That is where the public outcry comes from. This legislation is trying to create a one-size-fits-all bill that can eliminate the problem of piracy on the internet. In my own opinion it is the lazy way to fix this issue. At the end of the day the internet is a place of absolute freedom of speech and people are going to fight to keep it that way. At the same time order needs to be had, especially when crimes are being committed and the companies that are in favor of this bill are going to take what they can get, and they will only get what we give them. Let’s not give them the power of internet censorship. Lets make them do the right thing and deal with 100 rogue sites rather than blanket millions.

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