Today's SOPA Protests: Rutgers Business School Professors Respond
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
With an online protest today that includes a temporary shutdown of Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress, Tumblr and many other major sites, the legislative battle over two Internet piracy bills –SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), and PIPA (Protect IP Act) has reached a new level. The bills would strengthen the U.S. Justice Department’s power to go after and shut down websites that may host disputed copyright material like YouTube.
Wikipedia's blackout page, 1/18/2012
RBS Professors respond to the protests:
The blackout today is a healthy sign of a balance of power developing on IP issues in a high-tech era. In the 1990s, "big copyright" as represented by Hollywood and the recording industry ruled the roost politically. The Digitial Millennium Copyright Act, AKA the "perpetual copyright for Mickey Mouse" bill, exemplified that tilt. Now, tech firms have entered the fray and helped place a countervailing weight on the other side of the scales. That's a good thing--the scales of justice don't work well when only one side has the political heft and the other is voiceless.
-Professor Wayne Eastman, Supply Chain Management and Marketing Sciences
I think that SOPA is like trying to close the barn door after the horse got out. Consumers want content and they will do what they want to get it. So, you can try to beat 'em (like trying to sell someone an entire cd when there is only one song they want or like) or join them (like iTunes and find a way to embrace, add value to, and monetize the thing that they do want).
-Professor Geraldine Henderson, Supply Chain Management and Marketing Sciences
- See a list of companies “blacking out” today to protest SOPA.
- Check out a Mashable infographic showing what you need to know about SOPA.
Hannah Redmond
