SOPA Will Effect Black Folk,Too

Today chronicles the day where many websites and web developers have decided to boycott SOPA( The Stop Online Piracy Act).  Sites from WordPress, Wikipedia, Facebook, LinkdIn and Google have decided to show solidarity by “blacking out” all over the web. Many people have been confused of how the act can effect the way the internet is used in the future. Black people across the web have been discussing what does this mean for them. This weeks guest blog is from Amaris (@amaris_acosta) of the blog Black, Latina and Fabulous! and she wants to explain how SOPA can effect the black community especially the black creative minds.

_________________________________________

Before I begin this post, I would like to point out two very important truths.One, if SOPA was in effect today this blog post, and quite likely this blog itself, would not exist.Two, legislators often take advantage of the fact that it is much easier to get a bill passed if they hide the real details in endless amounts of hyperbole. Eyes glaze, bill passed. As important as the future of SOPA is, it cannot be allowed to be overlooked because it took too long to explain. So, let’s get started.

It is very likely that the black screen on your last Wikipedia search was the first time you heard of SOPA. In short, The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), along with its sister PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), are bills that expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. ¹Mashable has an excellent breakdown of what SOPA means to you as a consumer and as an entrepreneur, but I want to zero in on two sentences that matter to you as an African American;
I can only assume that the authors and backers wanted nothing more than to fundamentally change the rules of the web: To shut down the open post fields, kill reposting (goodbye, Tumblr), end shared videos (sorry, YouTube), [and] expand the definition of what it means to infringe (sorry, Twitter, no sharing links that aren’t yours).

“When you turn copyright infringement into a felony and say that anyone can accuse a website of providing ”infringing” tools (and apply severe penalties whether you do something about it), you are essentially making it impossible for anyone to do anything online without fear of retribution.”

From Madam CJ Walker to Tyler Perry, African-Americans have an entrepreneurial history of making a way where there is none. SOPA, while well-meaning in its attempt to limit the “bootlegging” of music, media and intellectual property, will also effectively bottleneck, and inadvertently choke the frontier of modern entrepreneurship. Think about it. Video sharing is what allowed a homeless man to go from “nobody” to “Ted Williams, the Man with the Golden Voice”. While the inability to download the latest movie may hinder your Friday night, the inability to share YouTube videos will kill the career of the next Soulja Boy, Justin Bieber or Greyson Chance.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Imagine the Obama campaign without “Obama Girl”. As a matter of fact, imagine the Obama campaign without the strong-arm of social media that carried it.

Imagine an America where the only way you can distribute content without fear of legal action is through a major corporate channel or media company. Now imagine what that would do to the future of Black Entertainment.

In perhaps what is the most effective way to get across positive images of African-Americans without the burden of corporate funding, more and more people are using the internet to distribute their content. From “Awkward Black Girl” or the Idris Elba-produced “Milk & Honey” series to self-publishing e-stores like 21 Black Street, the internet has opened up a world of opportunity for Black filmmakers, authors and performers to ‘get the word out’, and more importantly, get their content ‘sold’. Without the ability to share content, or send the link to your favorite e-book, or tweet a video of your favorite indie-band-regardless of whether the content violates anti-piracy laws- e-commerce would basically turn into a bunch of trees falling in a forest you couldn’t find.

Is that the purpose of SOPA? Absolutely not. But, by turning over the managing and sharing of content to media companies (that can withstand legal action) and taking it from the hands of people, is that what will happen? In the name of profit, quite possibly.  So what can you do? Wikipedia’s home page has a link to contact your local Representatives for the next 24 hours, or you can click here after Thursday. There’s even a handy script if you are unsure what to write. But what you absolutely cannot do is let another day go by. Our voice depends on it.