The Happy Freelancer

So it’s old news by now that SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) have been withdrawn. And all through the world, individuals have cheered their enthusiasm, noting, I guess, that the system “works.” I can’t argue the ins and outs of SOPA and PIPA. I know the meanings behind them and I understand the rationale, if not the minutiae. So I won’t bore you with my ruminating on the merits or demerits (is that a thing?) of SOPA and PIPA.

What I will do, however, is talk about how alarming it is that the main players involved were massive, billion dollar organizations whose entire interest is to protect their monopolies and their profits. Oh sure, they acted like they were concerned with the little guy–the average Facebook user and Google searcher. But they’re not. And I’m not just aiming my guns at those who wanted to see SOPA and PIPA dismantled, I’m talking about those in favour of the acts, too.

Because at the end of the day, all the people cheered that Google and Facebook managed to get that big, bad old SOPA law withdrawn, but what seems to have been lost in all of this is that these organizations actually said very little of use. Terms such as “oppressive regime” and “pro-Internet” aren’t all that useful to me in this debate. Nor is the organizations’ stated desire to protect “Freedom of expression.” Because I find it very hard to believe that Google and Facebook care all that much about freedom of expression, unless it negatively affects them, which means that I don’t trust them when they say that my “freedom of expression” is at stake.

Disgusting acts of censorship have occurred in favour of SOPA and PIPA, despite those who wanted the acts withdrawn saying they were against censorship–I’m speaking here of the boycott of GoDaddy that resulted in the organization withdrawing its support of SOPA (read about it here). Because nothing says “Pro-Internet” quite like having organizations planning a “Leave GoDaddy Day” and threatening to move more 1,000 domains from the site after GoDaddy stated its support of SOPA and PIPA. Yup. That SCREAMS pro-Internet/anti-censorship to me.

Facebook is against the censorship of the Internet but famously, has been accused of censoring the photos of women breastfeeding and not only removing the photos but freezing the accounts of said women. (You can read an excellent article by Anne Douglas on this situation here.)

We are once again stuck in a world where it’s us versus them, pro-Internet versus anti-Internet, and that’s a terrible, terrible place to be.

But don’t worry, I’m not letting those in favour of SOPA and PIPA off the hook. Because the public face of “anti-piracy” and “copyright protection” was none other than Hollywood, including the studios, those magnificent bastions of copyright protection and digital rights enforcement. Assuming, of course, that you’ve completely forgotten the dark ages of television, around 2007-2008, when the writers’ strike lasted for over three months (a particularly terrible time in history that I refer to as “My Depression”). Remember what the big issue was? That’s right, writers wanted to be paid for the digital rights to their works. And big business Hollywood studios DIDN’T WANT TO PAY. (According to an article by the AP, prior to the writers strike, writers received approximately 3 cents on a DVD that sells for $20. Following the strike, the writers now make 3.5 cents on the same DVD. I kid, of course. Obviously, they wound up with 2 cents per DVD.)

You might be tempted to argue that Hollywood studios, by virtue of protecting copyright and its royalties, would have more money and therefore pay writers more, but then I would be tempted to call you the most naive person on the planet (and I would have to resist the urge to kick you in the shins). Because Hollywood doesn’t care about its writers’ copyright or about paying them fairly. It, like Google, Facebook and everyone else, wants to protect its own profits.

And so I, as an outsider and a writer, am left to wonder who the hell actually cares about protecting the little guy’s rights. Because I am damned sure positive that none of the players publicly involved in the garbage over the past few days give so much as a tiny rat’s behind about my rights or the rights of the person next to me (and I speak here about writers in general, since very few American lawmakers or companies care even a sliver about a Canadian, let alone a Canadian writer). But I don’t really want to speak out about the issues involved because I’ll be accused of being greedy, or selfish or anti-Internet or in league with the pirates, depending on which stance I take.

SOPA and PIPA should have been a time to have meaningful debate and discussion about the nature of copyright, the ways to go about protecting copyright and what the organizations’ responsibilities are in doing so. Instead, the debate was framed by large organizations with a vested interested in downing (or protecting) SOPA and PIPA not because the rules where inherently fair or unfair but because the rules negatively affected those organizations that have a monopoly. The “debate” that occurred involved use of stupid, marginalizing rhetoric on both sides that did nothing to further discussion or highlight the real issues, which made it almost impossible for people with actual, intelligent things to say–from both sides of the debate–to participate. And that makes me sad.

At the end of the day, the withdrawal of SOPA and PIPA was not necessarily a victory for the Internet or for the average Internet user. It was a victory for Google, Facebook, Wikipedia and all the other big organizations that wanted it withdrawn. That’s it. And if we learn nothing meaningful from this experience, then how can we expect it be any better the next time around? Will the rule of thumb when creating Internet copyright law simply be, “Don’t piss off Facebook and Google?” Will they ever come up with meaningful legislation if honest discussion can’t be had?

Anyone have any thoughts? I’d actually like to hear from both sides on this–not the big business sides, but the little guys–and what their honest thoughts are about SOPA, PIPA and copyright on the Internet. I’m genuinely interested in what people on both sides have to say. Really. Just leave the name-calling out of it, please (and I promise not to call you naive, or kick you in the shins).