SOPA, Piracy, Loss of Income

Happy New Year, and all that malarkey. 1st of January is the start of the Gregorian calendar and therefore the start of the Christian New Year. The Chinese New Year is yet to come, and the Pagan New Year, too. It is an arbitrary date, but interesting to see Buddhist temples and Shinto Shrines celebrate the Eve and the New Year at that time just the same.

What is a worrying start to whichever new year you follow is the Stop On-line Piracy Act (SOPA) being proposed in the US. Effectively, any website can be shut down almost arbitrarily if there is even one link, photo, or reference to a product from Hollywood. It appears that the movie and music industries of the US wants to have a total and uncompromising grip on their products. Really, I should be supporting this, as it means that my products also get protection. However, I’m worried that the opposite effect might occur.

If the bill is passed, it is possible that legitimate companies, who legitimately buy my photos, may stop buying my photos as they decide to save their pennies for possible litigation from accidental breaches of SOPA. It also means that the very places where my photos can be virally promoted may also be shut down. If you take a look at my homepage JapanesePhotos.Asia, you’ll notice that at the bottom of the slideshow is a “Share” button, this allows other people to show-off my photos (also see the Steve Jobs memorial photo below). This is one form of promotion I can do on the internet. If you take a look at one of my galleries hosted on PhotoShelter, the Seoul South Korea gallery, you’ll notice that there is a FaceBook, Twitter, and other buttons that help spread the word of my great photos. The problem is, SOPA threatens the very means I use to promote my photos, and could destabilise the internet economy. Finally, what if the very companies I use to even have a presence on the internet, Asia Photo Connection, PhotoShelter, and my webhost are closed down because of SOPA, then where is my ability to have an income? SOPA is not what the internet needs, and the very nature of SOPA is very, very wrong.

On a final note, seeing the reaction of Americans on the internet, it feels like SOPA has the very potential to smother democratic discussions, thereby making life for Americans no different to that of oppressed communist countries like North Korean and China.

If you are American please visit http://americancensorship.org/