Why SOPA has nothing to do with Online Piracy

"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Plato

They want you to think SOPA and the Protect-IP act are good things, about protecting intellectual property and stopping online piracy. That's complete bullshit. Here's why:


The Tech Companies Have Already Solved The Problem

Have you heard of the Cloud? It's this magical place of the future that will essentially eliminate the need to store anything on your personal devices. You'll have the space in ultra-secure servers all throughout the world and your content will be stored there so you can access it from any device, anywhere you have internet.

So that you can't access my stuff and vice-versa, everything in the cloud is likely to be encrypted for your protection. That same encryption will eventually also completely eliminate online piracy and protect copyrights. 

While the spuds on couches assure television isn't going anywhere any time soon, that certainly doesn't mean what comes to your television will have to pass through your DVR to get there. It will go to the cloud too. Bandwidth limitations will be conquered, and it will no longer be necessary to broadcast the same data to multiple users. Your favorite television show will get it's own encryption to which only your devices/log-ins have the key. 

A file type replacing .avi will become the new streaming medium, and while you'll still be able to save the file in whole or in part, the streams will come encrypted to the person with the key. Your device will have the key, but you won't know it. If I order some streaming movie online and save the file, if I e-mail you that file and you attempt to watch it on a device, the device keys won't match and... well, it probably just won't work - but it's funner to think the authorities will be notified of the infringement and show up on your doorstep to haul you off for indefinite detainment. No SOPA necessary.

If SOPA is unnecessary, why pass it?

So why would Congress pass this unnecessary law? To control and censor what information you have available to you. Is typing "The first rule of Fight Club" enough of a copyright infringement that a ne'er do well can report it and have my blog shut down at least while the investigation is underway? Under SOPA it is.