The Stop Online Privacy Act or SOPA is a dirty word around the internet right now, but what actually is SOPA all about?
Well it’s all about websites like Piratebay, termed by the MPAA as “Rogue websites” According to Mark Elliot, Executive vice president at the U.S. chambers of commerce in a letter to the New York times
“Rogue Web sites that steal America’s innovative and creative products attract more than 53 billion visits a year and threaten more than 19 million American jobs. Congress is considering legislation that could help cut these criminals off from the American market.
Rogue sites are often located outside the United States, beyond the reach of our enforcement agencies. Proposed legislation authorizes a federal court to direct the suspension of services (payment processing, advertisements and linking) to rogue sites.
Protecting American innovation, jobs and consumers from foreign criminals is critical to a secure Internet and a prosperous future.”
Support worldwide for the SOPA anti-piracy bill is rapidly dwindling, even the U.S. administration was forced on Saturday to issue a statement from an online petition:
“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”
The Whitehouse has in effect told the SOPA/PIPA supporters to go back to the drawing board and rewrite the Bill if it ever wants to pass through congress.
Another hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding SOPA is scheduled for January, and many websites will be blacking out in protest to the hearing. Reddit the social news website, will be participating in the anti-SOPA day. wordpress has asked its users to install a plugin and “Go Dark” for the day.
Among the most vocal activists for Anti-SOPA, are our old friends Anonymous. Many organizations have not fully realised that if they are on the supporting SOPA list, then by association you are more likely to get targeted by hacktivists.
I predict that in the next few weeks you will see defacements and breaches of these SOPA supporting organizations. These attacks will be used to publicise the Anti-SOPA sentiment running through the internet at the moment.
There are a lot of household brand names, some you would not think as being supporters for SOPA, and many will be on Anonymous’s hit list…..
3M
adidas America
Bose Coporation
Burberry
CBS Corporation
Chanel USA
Coach
Columbia Sportswear Company
Dolce & Gabbana USA, Inc.
Electronic Arts, Inc.
Fender Musical Instrument Company
Ford Motor Company
Gibson Guitar Corp.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Johnson & Johnson
Juicy Couture, Inc
kate spade
Lacoste USA
Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.
Lexmark International, Inc.
Liz Claiborne, Inc
L’Oréal USA
Lucky Brand Jeans
Major League Baseball -
Marmot
Monster Cable Products, Inc.
National Basketball Association (NBA)
National Football League (NFL)
NBC Universal -
Nervous Tattoo Inc.
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
New Era Cap Co Inc
NHL Enterprises, L.P.
Nike, Inc.
Nintendo of America Inc.
Oakley, Inc.
Peavey Electronics Corporation
Perry Ellis International
Petzl America
Pfizer Inc.
PGA of America
Philip Morris International
PING
Ralph Lauren Corporation
Red Wing Shoe Company
Reebok International Ltd.
Revlon
Rite Aid – Home Office
Rolex Watch USA Inc.
Rosetta Stone Inc.
Shure Incorporated
Sony Electronics Inc.
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Spyder Active Sports, Inc
Taylor Guitars
Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
The Dow Chemical Company
The Estee Lauder Companies
The Timberland Company
The Walt Disney Company
Tiffany & Co.
Time Warner Inc.
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Viacom
Wal-Mart
Warner Music Group
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
Xerox Corporation
Zippo Manufacturing Company
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