Well, we’re going to get a little nerdy today because this SOPA protest has got us all talking at the office.  Where do we stand from a marketing perspective?

A little background:

• SOPA = Stop Online Piracy Act
• The bill is before congress now
• It’s intended to make it harder for foreign sites to sell counterfeit goods, fake prescription drugs and copyrighted movies, music, and other content
• It’s supported by US Chamber of Commerce, Motion Picture Association of America, Recording Industry Association of America, and others

The Good, The Bad, The Difference
        Good

• Protection of intellectual property
• Stops piracy costing millions to US companies
• Supporters say it’s targeting mainly foreign websites generating income and taking US dollars for fake or stolen property

        Bad

• First real internet censorship if passed
• Generated content on sites like YouTube, Reddit, and Wikipedia could become targeted for what others post through them
• Encourages ISPs and DNS blocking and filtering which many Internet Security Advocates admit is risky

       Difference – the questions we’ve been asking all day:

• Will this Act really protect intellectual property?
• Can piracy issues be stopped by enacting this bill?
• Does the Act bring enough loss prevention to the companies it’s protecting at the cost of censorship it’s in danger of supporting?

While we’re glad we’re not the lawmakers in charge of making these tough decisions, we know these are issues our industry must stay informed of.  Should these changes go into effect, it could mean social media sites will become heavily monitored (which is why a number of them will be going “offline” in protest on January 18), advertising, television, radio, billboards, the works may have to increase in cost to create original material each and every time before going live on the internet.

Whatever happens, know E2 Marketing is here to help keep you in the know and on top of the changing world that is marketing and the law.

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