SOPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) and the GoDaddy Boycott

[PhoneMistress]

Yesterday I got a tweet that GoDaddy was in support of SOPA. I have some domains I won this year in a settlement sitting over there. I am moving them today. To be fair I was going to move them anyway but this gave me the impetus to do it sooner rather than later. What is breathtaking is how quickly GoDaddy's involvement in supporting SOPA spread and how fast the boycott began. Here are some links regarding SOPA:

H.R. 3261 Stop Online Piracy Online

The Definitive Post on Why SOPA and Protect IP Are Bad, Bad Ideas

And, already there are indications that companies are interested in bringing broad actions for infringement against organizations that most people would consider perfectly legal. Advertising giant GroupM recently asked its entertainment industry customers to compile a list of "sites dedicated to infringement," not unlike what's found under PROTECT IP. Universal Music, Warner Bros. and Paramount were three key providers to that list, which ended up covering a large number of perfectly legitimate sites including the famed Internet Archive (widely recognized as the library for the internet). It also included numerous innovative startups that are frequently used by content creators to get their works out, such as SoundCloud and Vimeo. Even more worrisome, it included a variety of publications and blogs, including Vibe Magazine, the quintessential hip hop and R&B magazine founded by Quincy Jones, as well as Complex, a popular lifestyle magazine recently recognized as one of the most valuable startups in New York.

Even worse, it appears that Universal Music also included the personal website of one of its own top artists, 50Cent. The hiphop star has a personal website as well as a website owned by Universal Music. The personal website is much more popular... and it appeared on the infringement list. Suddenly, you can see how letting companies declare what sites are dedicated to infringement can lead to them looking to stifle speech and competition.

Similarly, Monster Cable, who has stated its support for PROTECT IP, has put together its own list of "rogue sites" and it, rather stunningly, includes sites like eBay, Craigslist, Costco and Sears. It even includes consumer rights groups like Which? in the UK, and various popular shopping search engines like PriceGrabber.

Why All Marketers Need To Know About SOPA

And inevitably, if enacted in its current form, the legislation will open up wide new avenues for black-hat marketers to wreak havoc on competitors.

List of Organizations Pro SOPA

Go Daddy's Position on SOPA

List of Companies and Individuals Against (Or Leaning Against) SOPA

SOPA on Reddit

Reddit's Erick Martin on SOPA: "The End of Reddit"

If SOPA passes in anything like it's current form, it would almost certainly mean the end of reddit. It may not happen overnight, but we have a very small staff (~11, mostly engineers), and even dealing with DMCA stuff is a big burden for us. SOPA would make running reddit near impossible. And we have access to great lawyers through our parent company [Condé Nast]. I can't imagine how smaller sites without those kind of resources could even attempt a go at it if SOPA passes.

I found the Congressional hearings on SOPA mindnumbing because it was clear that our elected officials voting on these things really haven't a clue about ...well the internet. So I am adding Danny Sullivan's Dear Congress: It's Not OK Not To Know How Search Engines Work, Either.