Does any one know the details of why SOPA legislation is needed? What is it about the DMCA legislation that isn't enough to fight piracy?<p>I'm asking to better understand the underlying problem statement. We all keep talking about how SOPA will destroy the internet and that we need to stop it immediately. I think the best way to make that happen is to come up with an alternate solution that will improve the position of copyright holders without stifling innovation or leading towards a censored internet. I'm not talking about a compromise, I'm talking about genuinely trying to solve a problem.<p>To do that, we need to know what the problem is--beyond a vague statement of "piracy on the internet".<p>So, what is it about the DMCA legislation that they've already put through that isn't getting the job done? What are the failings of the legislation that prevent it from working? It would also be helpful to know not just how it's failing copyright holders but also consumers--since it seems as a whole we are generally against it too.<p>I'm sincerely asking, this isn't rhetorical or anything. I'm hoping anyone that is(has been) seriously following DMCA/SOPA/PROTECTIP can provide insight on. If there are actually supporters of SOPA here, or if not SOPA itself more legislation focused on digital content and piracy, what explicitly are they looking for.
SOPA explicitly does not have the power to silence sites based in the US. This is because the DCMA already applies to those sites. So SOPA won't block facebook, or youtube, or google, or any other US based site. The problem occurs when a site isn't in the US. A rights holder can't send a DCMA takedown notice to The Pirate Bay for instance.<p>SOPA gives an alternative for rights holders when faced with a foreign site. They can ask for the site to be blocked at the DNS level by ISP's. They can prohibit any US based payment processor from paying the infringing site money. Rights holders can even ask search engines to block infringing sites.<p>Basically it stems from "As a rights holder, what can I do to prevent my work from being stolen internationally?" Some people in congress believe they have found a way to help rights holders in this position. Unfortunately there are some extremely serious mostly unintended consequences of these new powers.
The DMCA doesn't apply outside the US. Given that US laws cannot be applied in other countries (but they are trying with ACTA), you need to block piracy at the border. ICE has been doing this with Operation In Our Sites, but SOPA attempts to streamline the process.<p>(Some copyright owners mistakenly or optimistically sent DMCA takedowns to The Pirate Bay, and TPB wrote hilarious ridiculing emails back.)