as a musician who has literally not made a dime off of an album i released this year, this SOPA bill is complete bullshit. it isn't hurting musicians, its hurting the middlemen who have no business profiting off of art in the first place. the business model has completely changed in the last couple of years, freeing artists from corporate bondage, and these guys are pissed that they're getting left out. art is not business. media should be free for everyone. if you like an album and want to support an artist, buy a physical copy for your personal collection. go to a show when they come through your town. if you "illegally" download it, fuckin a. at least you got to hear it. the rise of popular culture over the last 100 years has put artists on a pedestal, grossly inflating their monetary value in our society. do "artists" like lady gaga or soulja boy deserve to be set for life because of their profound contributions to our culture? i think not. even less true for a group of assholes sitting in an office somewhere taking the lions share of an artist's income for being a fucking middleman.
progress rolls on; these big media companies aren't adapting to the times so they're trying to take their toys and go home, and putting the culture of the world in peril in the process. and if you're an artist (of any kind) who only dreams of getting rich off of their talents and vision, you probably should have never tried to be an artist in the first place.
Brilliant. I'm sure if you ask any musician that makes less than 6 figures they will tell you exactly the same, unless they are captivated by the fantasy life of making it in the recording industry.
Also as far as the bill goes, I read that Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich have all stated their intentions to try to wipe out internet porn in the US if elected, and I'm sure this bill plays a critical role in making that possible, so watch out for your free pr0ns everyone! And There are a lot of different sections of the bill with severe implications. For instance, as understand it SLAP as a site would probably no longer exist the way it does because any site that holds pirated/copyrighted material is responsible for removing the content, even if is submitted by a 3RD PARTY, meaning us. So in effect, unless the SLAP admins police us and remove everything from gifs to pictures and video that are protected, they can get shut down. There is a lot more too, this affects pretty much everyone in the world.