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In January 2012, two controversial
pieces of legislation were making
their way through the US Congress.
SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act,
and PIPA, the Protect Intellectual
Property Act, were meant to crack
down on the illegal sharing of
digital media. The bills were
drafted on request of the content
industry, Hollywood studios and
major record labels.
The online community rose up against
the US government to speak out
against SOPA, and the anti-online
piracy bill was effectively killed
off after the largest online protest
in US history. But it was only one
win in a long battle between US
authorities and online users over
internet regulation. SOPA and PIPA
were just the latest in a long line
of anti-piracy legislation US
politicians have passed since the
1990s.
"One of the things we are seeing
which is a by-product of the digital
age is, frankly, it's much easier to
steal and to profit from the hard
work of others," says Michael
O'Leary, the executive
vice-president for global policy at
the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA).
The US government says it must be
able to fight against piracy and
cyber attacks. And that means
imposing more restrictions online.
But proposed legislation could
seriously curb freedom of speech and
privacy, threatening the internet as
we know it.
Can and should the internet be
controlled? Who gets that power? How
far will the US government go to
gain power over the web? And will
this mean the end of a free and
global internet?
Fault Lines
looks at the fight for control of
the web, life in the digital age and
the threat to cyber freedom, asking
if US authorities are increasingly
trying to regulate user freedoms in
the name of national and economic
security. |
