The rhetoric on both sides of the debate concerning the Stop Online Piracy Act almost peaked when Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said the House proposal "would mean the end of the Internet as we know it." Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), whose district includes Hollywood, thought Lofgren's rhetoric was over the top. Lofgren's statements, however, aren't that far-fetched. Not if you actually read the bill.
David Kravets, Wired
Congress is debating the Stop Internet Piracy Act with the goal of putting up a major roadblock that will punish copyright villains and their alibis. But entrepreneurs, small-business owners and venture capitalists say the bill's unintended consequences will be to stifle innovation, scare away investors and dramatically reduce the likelihood that the next big thing like YouTube or Facebook would ever get off the ground.
Tim Donnelly, Inc.
I'm here to tell you what SOPA is, and that you should be alarmed. That such a broken bill has made it to the stage of hearings is an affront to common sense, and also the very core principles of the Internet. There is a fundamental issue at stake here, and if we are not careful, and loud, we might see the Internet take a turn down a path that could yield dark dividends in the years to come.
Alex Wilhelm, NextWeb
There is growing opposition to SOPA within Congress. The latest opponent: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). And Pelosi is far from being the only member of Congress opposed to the legislation. Ten members of Congress signed a "Dear Colleague" letter expressing concerns with the bill. The signers were nine Democrats plus Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Also opposed to the legislation is Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).
Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica
House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that he is planning to mark up controversial legislation before the end of the year that would crack down on piracy and counterfeiting on foreign websites.
Juliana Gruenwald, National Journal
China's 485 million Web users are the world's largest online population. And the Chinese government has developed the world's most advanced Internet censorship and surveillance system to police their activity. Yet the days of Americans piously condemning China's "Great Firewall" and hoping for a technological silver bullet that would pierce it are over. The Chinese model is spreading to other authoritarian regimes. And governments worldwide, including the United States government, are aggressively trying to legislate the Internet.
David Rohde, Reuters
The Commerce Department is investigating whether technology produced by a California company helped Syrian police monitor dissidents amid a bloody crackdown there, U.S. officials said.
Sari Horwitz and Shyamantha Asokan, Washington Post
Raycom Media has taken control of three TV stations in Tucson in a covert consolidation deal. The new virtual triopoly will result in dozens of layoffs, as local anchor Lou Raguse noted on the air. When Raycom takes over operations of Belo-owned KMSB and KTTU, Raycom’s station KOLD will produce all of the news for the three stations.
Libby Reinish, SavetheNews.org
Just two days after some small cable operators, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable warned the FCC about the harms of TV station consolidation, top broadcasters in Tucson, Ariz., announced a deal that will result in layoffs and potentially increased retransmission-consent fees for pay TV providers.
Steve Donohue, FierceCable
In the dead of night on Monday, Nov. 14, Zuccotti Park in New York City was raided by police. Early on in the raid, mainstream media outlets began reporting that the police were barring their reporters from entering the park. The night had chilling implications for freedom of the press. But the news got out anyway. The raw power of citizen media - and the future of news envisioned by a site called Storify -- thwarted the media blackout.
Jon Mitchell, ReadWriteWeb
When the New York Police Department forcibly evacuated Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street movement, there seems to have been a premeditated and coordinated effort to block media coverage of the raid. Many journalists said they were barred from reporting the police action.
Peter Rothberg, The Nation
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