SOPA/PIPA: What and why

[SuddenlyWestFemme]

Originally Posted by Softhearted

I hear a lot of uproar against SOPA and how bad it is but what would be your solution to stop piracy then?

People who work in the music, artistic industries should not work for free... and I'm not talking only about the artists per say... Many people are involved, from the guy who work in the CD packaging to the seller in a store...

Just my .02 cents

I also worked in the arts industry for a long time.

I don't really have an answer except to say that theft has always been a part of the industry. Many movies have been piloted through the ages. I can't tell you how many friends of mine made tapes for me off of records and other tapes. And at the time, I never even thought of it as theft. Listen to Lady Gaga and then Madonna (especially the "Express Yourself" song) and you can see how much 'borrowing' is going on. It used to be if someone shoplifted a CD, the people hurt were the storeowners and employees. With the internet that hurt has gone directly to artists more often.

I don't have an answer, but most artists I know wouldn't want the internet to shut down sites - without thorough and proper investigation - to protect them. It is very hard to be a successful artist without free speech and not being able to speak on this 'site' is a form of sensorship.

And one more side note. Pricing is based on expected theft. The reason everything is so expensive is because the industry now understands that there will be theft and they make up for it. I doubt that things will become cheaper for us to buy once we can't get onto our favorite websites.