The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced in late 2011 to expand the ability to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. The proposed law has far-reaching implications, many of which affect the communications industry, including the ability to bar advertising networks from conducting business with websites in potential violation of the act, search engines from linking to the sites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the sites.

Opponents believe the proposed legislation threatens free speech and innovation, and enables law enforcement to block access to entire internet domains due to infringing content posted on a single
blog or webpage. WOW! Other opponents state that requiring search engines to delete a domain name could begin unprecedented censorship of the Web.

The actions of opponents large and small have culminated in the anti-piracy legislation being shelved…at least for now, but new legislation will undoubtedly be introduced. We’ll keep you informed.