LyrArc Article Gist
The Stop Online Piracy Act is being pushed by the Motion Picture industry to prevent U.S. websites offering pirated movie or television content. Estimates show 13% of Americans have watched pirated movie and television shows which costs the industry millions of dollars. The legislation to correct this under the SOPA is so broad that it would limit the ability of internet companies to operate freely. It gives the Justice Department powers to shut down sites to prevent pirated content from appearing even if the internet companies are not knowingly allowing pirated content through their sites. This is why Google, Wikipedia and other internet companies see this as a violation of freedom for the internet, and leading to possible censorship of the internet. Because the SOPA legislation would allow Domain Name System (DNS) blocking this also affects cybersecurity in a negative way. By redirecting traffic away from pirate websites using a DNS blocking system the move would allow hackers a way to create problems for internet security. For this reason the U.S. government has also raised concerns about this proposed legislation. Considering the problems and issues raised this may be an example of overreach by the Motion Picture industry that affects the vital free flow of information on the web.