from IGN.com
IGN is made up of a group of people who love games and entertainment. We are extremely privileged to be able to write about the things that we love, to be able to make videos, podcasts and all the other things that we do. We love to share our ideas and our opinions on matters that are relevant to games and entertainment.
So, it's long past time we made our opinions known on the subject of SOPA and PIPA. We are not lawyers and are in no way qualified to pull apart acts of legislation. But, like you, we do have opinions about this issue and recognize our responsibility to share them.
Individually, the members of IGN's editorial team hold a wildly diverse range of opinions on almost any subject. On SOPA and PIPA there is also diversity. But, taken as a whole, it's pretty clear to us that SOPA and PIPA are a bad lot. We are emphatically against this proposed legislation.
Our readers as well as many of our fellow games journalism websites, have made clear their objection to this proposed change in law. We share these concerns and want to see these acts taken away and replaced with something that makes sense for everyone.
We want to see something that protects our rights to free speech, that protects our rights as consumers, and that makes sensible progress in protecting the rights of creators who feel that they need protection from people who they believe "steal" their work.
We believe that such a thing ought to be possible, that a balanced approach is always best.
Piracy is a complicated and emotive issue, but whatever your view, the people who make the content that is "shared" most often, to the detriment of their profits, ought to have their arguments heard too. However, critics of SOPA and PIPA are right in their argument that this legislation has been largely bankrolled by entertainment corporations devoted to well-established business models that are under threat from new behavior modes and new technologies.
SOPA and PIPA have been drafted with the help of money donated by companies that create content, mostly movie and TV companies. IGN is owned by just such a company – News Corp which officially endorses the proposed changes. However, various News Corp outlets have run editorials on the legislation's pitfalls. We are not going rogue here.
Companies that create and sell entertainment want legislation that protects their businesses. But this legislation is too heavy-handed and is a danger to harmless and beneficial activities.
We live in an age where creative content is constantly being shared in new and interesting ways. This is never more true than in games, where products like Skyrim and Call of Duty benefit enormously from the interactions of consumers.
Even if you leave this aside, SOPA and PIPA are evidently so badly drafted that they offer a horrible vision of a future in which IGN and our community might be at the mercy of over-zealous copyright lawyers, merely for sharing content that is widely available and commonly understood to be fair game.
This legislation is designed to protect the copyrights of American companies, especially against foreign entities outside of U.S. jurisdiction, which is a logical and worthwhile thing to do. But it creates unintended consequences. The end result of the legislation as it stands now could create a "Great Firewall of China"-like situation in which the Internet in the United States simply isn't what it was intended to be. DNS blocking, blacklisting, lack of due process are all things in the bill that need to be removed.
SOPA and PIPA, despite whatever good intentions they might have, are guilty of overreach. People share the things they love -- it's a very human thing to do. And most of the time, sharing has absolutely no detrimental effect on anyone's business, and most likely a positive effect. Sharing increases awareness of that which is shared. It's usually a celebration. The selfish desires of rights holders are at odds with how the human race behaves. Yes, the creators of media should be compensated for their work if they so desire. But that's not really what SOPA and PIPA are about. They're about stopping people from being people.
As stated at the beginning of this editorial, IGN is not the place to find a detailed breakdown of SOPA and PIPA. But we do wish to lend our support to those who are fighting this poorly drafted legislation.
Our view has long been that this legislation had little chance of passing, and we have sat out the meandering twists and turns of the story, as other outlets have taken up the cause. However, many of you have repeatedly asked us to state our position. In any case, it is always better to be vigilant about these things, and we accept the criticism that we ought to have done this sooner.
Final point. You may ask if we intend on having a black-out of our content, as some games sites have done today, and as Reddit and Wikipedia have done in their sterling opposition to this law. We are not. While we respect their decision, our primary role is to provide entertainment and information to our readers, and, like most media outlets we will be continuing our service as usual.
This feature was written by Colin Campbell with the approval of IGN's editorial team.
SOPA and PIPA bills is not good for the Videogame Industry
Originally Posted by vern
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