The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has been a hot topic of discussion over the previous couple of weeks. Hundreds of websites have voiced their disapproval of the legislation, while many media outlets and American politicians have stressed the need for tighter controls over internet piracy. The main argument against the legislative bill is that it endangers freedom of speech and will harm well-meaning websites more than those actively distributing illegal content. But what exactly does the bill propose, and what are the implications of such changes?

The History of the Bill So Far

The bill was first introduced to the House of Representatives on the 26th of October 2011, by Texas Governor Lamar Smith. While the bill, if passed, would be an American law, it would have wider implications for other parts of the world, due to the global nature of the internet.

The bill would allow copyright holders and the US Department of Justice to inflict much more serious penalties on websites hosting and distributing copyrighted material. The new law would potentially force search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, to stop linking to these sites, as well as forcing online advertisers to remove any content from the websites.

On the 18th January 2011, the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, the blogging platform WordPress, and hundreds of other websites staged a 24-hour blackout in protest of the bill, which they hoped would help represent the implications that the bill may have on these websites.

Support for the Bill

Support for the bill outside of the House of Representatives has primarily come from large companies who have suffered from websites using their copyrighted content without their permission. These businesses include NBC, Nike, Ford, McMillan Publishers and more. These companies have argued that online piracy is putting jobs at stake, because of the loss of income that is seen as a result of this piracy.

Media outlets and production companies have been the most vocal in their support for the bill, because online piracy has a direct impact on their business. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, has been particularly vocal about the bill, expressing his support over Twitter.

Opposition of the Bill

Opposition has been widespread, because many feel that the bill has potential for a much more widespread impact. Google and Yahoo are two of the biggest companies opposed to the legislation. This is because part of the bill says that search engines must not link to any illegal or pirated content. Google and Yahoo have argued that, with the sheer volume of links, it would be impossible to enforce this.

This was supported by Edward J. Black, who argued in an article for the Huffington Post that it is too easy for those distributing material to change domains. He said: “Ironically, it would do little to stop actual pirate websites, which could simply reappear hours later under a different name, if their numeric web addresses aren’t public even sooner. Anyone who knows or has that web address would still be able to reach the offending website.”

The Obama administration and the White House have also come out in opposition of the bill. A response from the White House stated that it “would not support legislation with provisions that could lead to Internet censorship, squelching of innovation, or reduced Internet security.” However, it did stress that it encourages all sides to work together to create a legislation that helps to stop piracy.

What Happens Now?

In recent days, support from the bill has waned considerably, and the bill was shelved on 20th of January to allow for a rethink. While this is good news for many opponents of the bill, there will very likely be a redraft. File-sharing website Mega Upload was shut down on the 19th of January by the FBI for illegal activities, which is a sign that the idea of copyright protection and privacy prevention is far from over.

The major concerns of the bill have been centered around the potential for putting a stop to the creativity and innovation on the internet, through fear of reprisals if a company falls foul of any potential bill. However, while opposition of SOPA is fierce, most of these organisations and individuals agree there is a need for clamping down on internet piracy, but stress that SOPA is not the way forward.

Details of a search engine collaboration between two of the three major names in the industry were revealed today, with Microsoft and Yahoo announcing a partnership.

Under the terms of initial ten-year deal, Yahoo’s popular search engine is likely to be enveloped into Microsoft’s Bing platform, with search technologies and profit shares from ads distributed accordingly.

The move is the latest ominous sign that Microsoft really does mean business with Bing, because however mutually-beneficial the deal is dressed up to appear by the respective marketing departments, it has essentially swallowed up it’s nearest competitor in the field. Also, the ten year timescale of the agreement is an interesting note to the episode, suggesting that Microsoft isn’t expecting an overnight result and is in it for the long haul.

However the size of the task in attempting to overthrow Google hasn’t got any smaller. Even combined, Bing and Yahoo’s current share of the search market (28%) doesn’t come close to Google’s domination (65%*).

All in all, Microsoft’s recent moves on search show a certain tenacity for the fight, but it doesn’t look like it has produced a genuine gamechanger… yet.

* Comscore. July 2009.