The online world has been extra animated this week as worldwide protest was sparked by the emergence of two US Bills that threaten the Internet as we know it.
Online activity reached its peak on Wednesday, with a 24-hour shuttering of the world's largest information repository, Wikipedia, which said the proposed legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), endanger free speech and set a precedent for Internet censorship.
The protest drew worldwide attention, eliciting response and support from millions of Internet users, as well as thousands of sites that stood in solidarity for the cause of a free, open Internet.
Real ramifications
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says people must not make the mistake of thinking the legislation will not affect SA. “It will affect us just as much as anyone."
New media lawyer Paul Jacobson says the law targets foreign sites that pirate content and would affect how South Africans experience the Internet. He says that, in fact, US sites would be the ones to be less affected. “If a South African site is found to have illegal content, the site could be taken down.”
Essentially, says Jacobson, the action the Bills would require or allow is that of breaking the link between a URL and the IP address, which would completely restrict how users browse the Web and gain access to content.
“The law enables service providers to break associations. It's not that a site's information will be removed, but the link or links to it will be broken.”
He says in light of the damage the law would pose to the Internet and vehement opposition, he would be very surprised if the laws end up being passed over the next few days when a decision is expected to be made by the US Congress.
Jacobson adds that, while piracy on the Internet is a legitimate concern, “the laws would cause more damage to the Internet than what is justified by what they are intended to achieve. It just goes way too far.”
Goldstuck says one of the elements that makes the laws so pernicious is the fact that service providers, while not compelled to act against sites hosting illegal content, would be under the threat of shut-down themselves should the nature of the content subsequently come to light.
“It is not so much the law itself as the threat is poses to service providers and, in turn, the sites they host.”
Powerful example
Goldstuck says the reach of the laws would go beyond just a clamp-down in certain online activity, but it would have significant influence on politics insofar as SA's own muzzling legislation, the Protection of Information Act, goes.
“If these laws are passed, this may be used as a model in SA on how to restrict online activity and information. Our government is clearly looking for ways to restrict information to the public, and SOPA and PIPA are powerful examples of how to do this.”
That being said, says Goldstuck, given the current political climate in the US, he does not foresee the Bills being passed. “The US is heading towards elections and considering the role social media played in president Barack Obama's victory, the passing of the laws would be damaging.”
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