On SOPA And PIPA

I’m taking a bit of a departure from some of the “rules” I have established for myself and this blog.  One thing I have avoided is taking political positions, using this blog as a bully pulpit for those types of things—though I use it as a bully pulpit for a lot of other stuff.  In this post, I have no intent of taking a political position, but there are some important pieces of legislation that impact virtually every business and organization for which the Web is a part of their strategies.  I think it’s important for people to understand these and take an active position with their congress people–regardless your stance.

Many blog sites and web sites are going “dark” today to call people’s attention to the SOPA and PIPA bills.  Clearly, this site hasn’t gone dark—but that’s just a comment on my lack of technical capabilities.

I first started seeing the term SOPA coming up in the social media world a couple of months ago.  The conversation seemed to have dominance in the technical communities, I initially blew it off thinking it was some great technology.  More recently, as I kept seeing more discussion, I decided to look into it.

SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, or House Bill 3261.  It’s related to PIPA, the Protect IP Act.  Look at some of the articles on these bills.  The spirit of the bills is great, who wants to encourage Piracy or stealing IP.   However the implications of the bills and the related enforcement issues are profound.  There is an impact to virtually every business — seeking to leverage the web, build online communities and better connect with their customers.  It will impact virtually every individual’s web experience.

The responsibilities organizations have in ensuring their sites are in compliance can be overwhelming and will inevitably impact all our experiences on the web.  Social Media and Web X.0 strategies are critical to all businesses and organizations, so legislation that can have such a profound impact  on our abilities to leverage these is important to understand.

I’ll keep my position to myself, though you might guess my position.  But I think every marketer, strategist, and top executives should look at the legislation, understand it’s impact on their strategies.  Whatever your position, you should write your congress people making your position known.