The Cool Kid said:
I read the bill, as did my lawyer, and his lawyer friend, and another lawyer I know, and another, and we all came to the same conclusion:
SOPA is bad.
Yes, corporations would have to pay damages for improperly shutting down websites,
as you have snidely reminded us throughout the entire discussion, but let's really break this down:
I own a company. It's pretty small and deals with a very niche market. Let's say that I decide to open a web arm of the company, and expand my market globally. Let's just say MEGACORP decides that I'm growing a bit too much, so they use SOPA to shut me down, albeit unjustly. Now, I'm not a rich guy, and the court proceedings would cost around two million dollars for me. MEGACORP won't feel that all, because they rake in well over a billion dollars per year, and they have lawyers on staff to deal with kind of stuff every day. I, on the other hand, don't make that much, and while the court proceedings go on, I'm forced into bankruptcy, and have to shut down my business and sell off my assets.
What have I won? I'll make the answer easy for you, it's a multiple choice: a. Nothing b. Nothing
Unfortunately, mega corporations do this on a regular basis already, and would only use SOPA to make easier.
And that's just on the business side of things. There are people on this forum who can go into great detail about how messing with the DNS system poses a major threat to cybersecurity.
And before you accuse me of butt-humping pirates, like you've been quick to do with everyone else who has challenged you, I'll let you know that I'm a professional actor. Piracy hurts me more than you know. I get paid to act in TV, Film, and Commercials upfront, but there's this little thing called "residuals". Every time a DVD of something I've done is sold, or a rerun of a show I've been in is shown, I get a paycheck. I depend on that paycheck for gas, food, utilities. Hell, I want to buy a house someday. Piracy makes being able to afford groceries pretty difficult.
I'm very against piracy, but I'm also very against SOPA and PIPA. There are better ways to deal with piracy.
Taking away civil liberties is not the answer.