Thus the workings of the bill should it become law could also be frustrated by numerous demonstrations carried out by Americans unhappy with the utilization of their tax dollars. Also, given other more important priorities, I doubt whether the government would be willing to expend enormous resources to make such a law fully functional. Hence in my opinion, resource constraints may end up frustrating SOPA's resolve to address online piracy and intellectual property theft.
It can also be noted that SOPA could end up being an exercise in futility given the internet's numerous data sharing avenues. Today, unlike 10 years ago, advancements in technology have made it possible for individuals to share and exchange data over a wide range of platforms including but not in any way limited to E-mail, instant messaging etc. Using these channels, users from all over the world can easily exchange data (including copyrighted material) undetected. In my opinion, it would be hard for the government to effectively supervise all the avenues of the internet to enhance compliance with SOPA provisions. Further, closely related to this, it is also important to note that trying to reign in on websites infringing on copyright laws could have the effect of shifting such activities underground far away from the enforcer's radar. For instance, such an action would occasion the establishment of numerous BitTorrent communities and forums that are both invite only and private. With this, the very purpose of SOPA would be defeated hence rendering the bill ineffective.
Counter Arguments
Even though the points I highlight above allude to the ineffectiveness of SOPA as far as addressing online piracy and intellectual property theft is concerned, it would be prudent to take into consideration some of the arguments put fourth by proponents of SOPA and why the said arguments are largely invalid. To begin with, proponents of this piece of legislation are concerned that with the current legal framework in place; entrepreneurs, authors as well as inventors in America could continue losing out to infringers both in and outside the country. Those supporting SOPA are of the opinion that the U.S. laws in place currently are ineffective when it comes to dealing with infringers and hence there exists a need to revamp existing laws so as to ensure that American producers as well as creators of products and services, research pieces as well as new writings are encouraged through economic incentives. One of the avenues utilized by copyright holders currently to counter copyright infringement is the DMCA warning. However, as Stegmaier notes, "in sum, the DMCA is broken, and it needs to be fixed" (70). As I have already pointed out elsewhere in this text, DMCA protects websites against any liability provided that such websites take the necessary action upon receipt of what is referred to as a takedown notice. In fact, as per the provisions of DMCA, an infringement concern need not go to court unless there is a disagreement of sorts i.e. between an individual...
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