So you can skip to the section(s) most relevant to you, this post is broken into three parts:  1) What are SOPA and PIPA?  2) How these laws will negatively affect the parkour community. 3) What you can do about it.  This post is not meant to be a complete overview of SOPA and PIPA, it is merely meant to inform on the issues that have direct implications for the parkour community.

 

What are PIPA and SOPA?

PIPA stands for Protect IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011), and it is a proposed law in the United States Senate with the stated purpose of giving the US government and private companies tools to combat online piracy. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is the equivalent bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bills would authorize law enforcement officials to blacklist websites, both foreign and domestic, that are alleged to be aiding piracy or IP infringement by cutting them off from users, advertisers, and online payments systems like Paypal. The US government would use the same technology that repressive regimes like China use around the world to censor the internet. In addition, the bill allows individuals and companies to sue websites and online business that are allegedly supporting such activities.  This may sound good, but the problem is that the laws are written in such a way that they are ineffective and would open the door for abuse.

 

Why these laws are broken and how they will negatively affect you and the parkour community:

Civil Liberty Issues:

By giving the government the right to use the same technology that other repressive regimes around the world use to censor their internet, this legislation would open up the door for abuse by giving the government the ability to censor and suppress dissent and free speech.  Even if you are not an American citizen, this is a problem since US law has historically determined precedent and international standards, allowing for similar legislation to be passed in countries around the world.

Community Issues:

Everyone within the parkour community knows how important a free and open Internet has been to the successful spread and growth of parkour around the world.  But websites from Wikipedia to Facebook and YouTube will have to monitor and censor themselves and their users (like you) to ensure compliance with this new law. As a result the sharing of videos and information about our sport and the young businesses that are trying to establish themselves will not be able to get the word out as effectively and, in some situations, possibly not at all.  This is bad news for you, for the parkour community, and for anyone running a business or nonprofit in the parkour industry.

Business Issues:

Blacklisting: This legislation would enable law enforcement to take down an entire domain due to something posted on a single blog or forum.  As a result an entire community could be published for actions of a few. So if you value hosting a forum on your website or connecting with members of the parkour community online, you should be worried.  Your site could be shut down, your advertising removed, and you could loose your access to paypal.

Lawsuits: The potential for lawsuits are just as troublesome because many start-ups are unable to bring forth the capital to fight such costly legal battles.  Therefore, even if a company has done nothing wrong, it can be sued out of existence by more established companies that view it as a threat.  In addition, community-based websites and user-generated websites will have to effectively shut down to avoid being targeted by lawsuits. 

In summary:

SOPA and PIPA are ineffective, heavy-handed efforts that threaten our civil liberties, put at risk our ability to form communities online, and stifle business innovation just to promote the interest of the few to the detriment of the many while opening the door for government censorship of the internet.  Internet piracy and IP theft are real issues that need to further attention, but this bill is the wrong way to do it. 

 

What can I/we do about it?

Join the protest on Wednesday January, 18 and let your voice be heard.

  • Publically show that you don’t support internet censorship by sharing this link with others in the parkour community, posting it on your website, and sharing it on facebook to get the word out.  
  • Post a banner to your website.
  • Post on twitter with #stopSOPA and #stopPIPA
  • If you’re an American citizen, take action.  You can write, call, and even demand a meeting with your congressperson.

 

Resources and Links