Where is Google at the Height of SOPA?
An argumentative essay required in academia. (In MLA format)
Sabiniana B. Baliba
Dr. George Garneau
15 February 2012
Where Is Google at the Height of SOPA?
What does it take to be a leader? Is the title itself good enough for one to own the distinction? I do not think so. Because for every recognition comes a responsibility; the responsibility to lead your group into good. And that is what Google should have done at the height of the very controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, and coupled with the Protect IP Act, PIPA), which the 112th Congress of the United States was forced to enforced the seemingly “clinical death” of the bills, due to the pressures from internet giants led by Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, Twitter and CraigsList (1). For so many years that Google was able to maintain the status quo of a leader of all domains in the World Wide Web (which according to the World Almanac, Google and its other domains YouTube and Blogger top all other domains from 2006 to the current date) (2),what did it do to give back to the community? What did Google do to keep the World Wide Web safe from “pirates” and all kinds of cybercrimes?
To summarize, H.R. 3261, also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act was proposed to Congress as follows:
“SOPA will authorizes the Attorney General (AG) to seek a court order against a U.S.- directed foreign Internet site committing or facilitating online piracy to require the owner, operator, or domain name registrant, or the site or domain name itself if such persons are unable to be found, to cease and desist further activities constituting specified intellectual property offenses under the federal criminal code including criminal copyright infringement, unauthorized fixation and trafficking of sound recordings or videos of live musical performances, the recording of exhibited motion pictures, or trafficking in counterfeit labels, goods, or services,” as it was submitted in Congress. (3)
The gist of the proposed laws is to stop the proliferation of piracy on the internet and to regulate media companies. Of course, all those who have monkey business on the side would not like the idea, since it is very clear that with the bill they won’t enjoy anymore the same liberty of being so free to steal intellectual properties and infringing copyrights. But why Google and all those other websites who claim that they are doing legitimate businesses oppose this bill? What are their dilemmas?
In a campaign website entitled End Piracy, Not Liberty, Google posted the following:
“Thank you – and the more than 7 million other Americans – who stood up for the web. Wednesday, January 18th was a big day for the Web. Americans stood up in opposition to PIPA and SOPA – bills that would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on U.S. businesses.Many of your favorites sites went dark, Americans made thousands of phone calls to our elected representatives in Washington, and we asked you to raise your voice by petitioning Congress through this page” (4).
And Google argued as follows: First, “SOPA and PIPA would censor the Web.” (5) Second, “SOPA and PIPA would be job-killers because they would create a new era of uncertainty for American business.” (6) And last, but not the least,” SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy,” as the web giant stressed to its readers (7). My response to those arguments is as follows: Number one, what’s wrong with censorship? The mere fact that all websites are pretty accessible to all ages, we should alloThew the government to do the censorship for us. We should let our lawmakers do for us what they all failed to do. Why would they oppose a good initiative that would regulate and make internet a safe place for everybody? On their second argument, contrary to the allegations that “SOPA and PIPA would be the job-killers,” (3) it is the “pirates” who keep stealing intellectual property rights and infringing copyrights that worsen our unemployment condition. Those criminals are killing the recording and movie industries, and they are jeopardizing the growth of our economy. Do you have an idea how big the contribution of the entertainment industry in our incoming finances? Humungous! And lastly, on “SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy,” if Google (along with all those websites) has a better idea than what the Congress has, why not make their suggestion formal? Why not help our legislators polish the bill for the benefit of us all. Anyone of us can suggest, because that is everyone’s rights as a citizen. But to go against the bill, right away and from the very beginning, isn’t that highly questionable? So I encourage all of you to think deeply as to why they really opposed the bill.
If Google is indeed against piracy, why kill SOPA? It is an open book that they all went and worked their ways to intimidate the legislation of H.R.3261. If the congress did miss a lot of points that our lawmakers should have considered, would it be a lot of work to amend it and include all of their suggestions? Why can’t they take SOPA as an initiative of the government to do what they failed to do all these years? The entertainment industry as a whole, from music to movies, even the makers of software programs are the ones badly affected by those crimes. Let us put ourselves to their shoes to see the bigger picture of this issue. We should have seen the “red flag” when those websites went against the bill. They never even admitted in anyways that piracy does exist in their respective sites? And that they couldn’t even stop it. Did they at least acknowledge those lapses? They never did! Therefore, we allow the congress to address and resolve all the issues of piracy and copyrights infringements. We should really allow our lawmakers to regulate it. For we all know: That piracy is stealing, and that stealing is a crime! So why are we tolerating crime? We should never tolerate crime! And when are we going to stand up on our feet to clear up those messes on the internet? Are we just going to let it grow and their damages getting bigger and bigger? Please, think deeper and look afar, for you to have the consensus of what is truly sound and good for all of us.
To end, I hope Google, who is considered as a leader of all domains in the internet should be a “leader” in all its meaning; and that is to lead the World Wide Web to a common good. Let us support SOPA and PIPA!
This is the first time I have heard this point of view. Thanks for the Like on my blog.
Not a problem, thamks too! God bless!