Sopa to Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property for Pipa Act are two laws debate currently being debated in U.S. Congress (House and Senate). They representing reinforced the French Hadopi equivalent. According to industry observers, their chance to take the stage of the project appear to be minimal. According to the newspaper Le Monde , "The list of support for SOPA and PIPA is reduced. The major record labels and Hollywood studios support these projects. Other major players like Goddady specializing in buying domain names, has flip-flopped after a brief but intense campaign to boycott. "We recall that such mobilizations, to a lesser extent, had already taken place in the framework of ACTA.
Changing the situation is partly due to the blackout of major websites like Minecraft, a game site online, and Wikipedia. These sites whose audience is important all around the world, and also in the USA, participated in a show of force since Wednesday. 50,000 blogs have relayed the message, the online petition has collected more than four million signatures, and Marck Zuckerberg, Facebook founder said on his Facebook page , information given by the Nouvel Observateur , his opposition to these laws. On January 20, in the evening, more than 500,000 people expressed their consent to this position rather uncommon for a person the size of Zuckerberg inclined to a form of consensuality and neutron policy.
Al "Megaupload" Capone
At the same time, the FBI , a kind of secret service within the U.S., stopped the founders of the site megaupload, famous site in the community of downloaders (including servers were to Hong Kong). In turn, a large set of sites using the services of this host videos, indicated cease operations supply download links.
It would be unfair to call this fight this war battle between pro-and anti-internet. The issue is more complex than that. It is primarily about money. Who will benefit from the future: the content producers (in this case the film studios, TV shows, or video games) or the content aggregators (Google, Facebook, sites offering downloads).
The financial stakes can be coupled to a significant societal issue. Our society is at a turning point without a proper solution is offered and meets all stakeholders.
A modern society can free itself to pay the most creative members? Difficult to say no. And this is the main argument of the proponents of SOPA and Popi, as was the case in France Hadopi. However, is that the solutions proposed, the fee-systematic, it is not only in line with the expectations of consumers, by definition, always asking for more while paying less, but also with patterns entrenched consumption and technological devices to get rid of the payment of fees.
The questions are revolutionary. Read here an interesting perspective on the site of France 24 . We feel a real conflict between the supporters of the old society, the production is paid according to its effect on the market, facing a modern society, where the provision of content, of course, they or not they were paid at their fair value. And besides that ultimately brings this value: is the artist (creator) starting people who allow the emergence of creativity, those which ensure potential découchés finally those who promote his work and guarantee a decent income with it? How much of these works back to the universality that allows the creation (which artist can shirk all marked, if only by inspiration, common things like the environment or past works).
To these fundamental issues facing a company, in addition to questions about the objectives pursued by the one and the other ends.
A social issue
Faced with the development of the Internet and its use by users to consume, but also to buzzer, criticize or indignation, as drugged by the opportunities given to them, the lines of physical boundaries seem very thin . Unable to control the character uses, governments may be tempted to watch the extreme these potential threats to breeding companies (which is their primary purpose). The e hiatus lies well at this point : the opposition between two principles of law that are here contradictory between the freedom to act, speak, and the freedom to create.
The form of creativity that seems to be even more protean than in previous periods. One source considered individually, Leonardo da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa (but how much is attributable to the model in the work of the painter?), We move to a more collective form of the process of value creation.
The lobbying battle that lies ahead is extremely interesting to observe because it poses virtually universal questions.
The Motion Picture Association American (mpaa), the lobby of the film industry wants to launch a major communication campaign on the subject. However, it seems that Anonymous, he had outdone by putting its website offside (at least January 20, 2012. 11:49 p.m., at which time I write this).
Stolen Jobs from Creative America on Vimeo .
However, it has huge financial resources (proof that this industry continues to earn money). According Numérama : "The entertainment industry does not démordra. She wants to come into force the laws SOPA and PIPA in one form or another. And she is willing to invest huge sums of money to get there. According to information compiled by the Center for a reactive policy ( Center for Responsive Politics ), a non-partisan NGOs quoted by Politico , more than $ 91 million was spent on lobbying in 2011.
However, it is much less than the $ 185 million spent in 2010 by the entertainment industry to defend its interests in Washington. The lobby has digital in comparison mobilized "only" $ 15 million in 2010 and 15 in 2011. "
Only $ 15 million, but millions of activists.
