Your Anti-SOPA/PIPA Update

SOPA and it’s less discussed, but equally shitty sister, PIPA suck. But what progress has been made in the fight against them? Here are a few updates from various fronts of the conflict.

Firefall Joining Black Out, Boycotting E3

Like numerous other websites protesting the acts, upcoming MMO-Shooter Firefall developer Red 5 Studios will be shutting down their website and the game’s beta for 24 hours on January 18.

In an interview with Shack News, CEO Mark Kern expressed his opposition to the bills and displeasure with the Entertainment Software Association’s support for the legislation.

“We are extremely disappointed in this misguided legislation. We are also ashamed of the ESA for supporting a bill which is clearly not in the best interests of gamers or the game industry,” Kern added.

The company will be skipping E3 as well. In the same interview Kern said that he couldn’t see Red 5 attending E3 as long as the ESA supports the bills. He solidified that position in a later follow-up email.

“I just had my staff cancel our E3 plans,” Kern said.

A couple other smaller developers, like Runic Games of Torchlight fame and Riot Games, developers of League of Legends, have voiced their opposition to the bills, but it’s nice to see someone taking more drastic measures to get the point across.

Good Old Games Voices Opposition to SOPA/PIPA

In a letter posted on GOG’s website, the digital distributor has made their stance clear. Originally not committing much support one way or the other, the site has changed its tone and come out in full opposition of SOPA and PIPA.

They state their original vagueness on the issues stemmed more from their position as a Polish company and not wanting to get too involved in US politics. But as the bills have moved forward they felt the need to speak out.

Referencing their stance against DRM, GOG made their case that not only will the bills not stop piracy, but they will mainly hurt normal paying customers.

Will SOPA/PIPA stop piracy? No. SOPA works in a fashion similar to DRM, if you ask us: it only will have an effect on people who are, by and large, honest consumers. Pirates who torrent via P2P methods will not be inconvenienced in the least by SOPA and PIPA; people who post “let’s play” walkthroughs of video games on YouTube, though, may be.

I think it would have more pull if GameStop or Best Buy came out in opposition as well, both due to company size and actually being based in the US, but I’m glad to see at least one retailer against SOPA and PIPA.

Obama Administration Opposes SOPA and PIPA

In easily the highest ranking show of opposition to the bills, the Obama administration has issued a letter acknowledging anti-SOPA/PIPA petitions and acknowledging the serious problems enforcement of the bills would entail.

Across the globe, the openness of the Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government, and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity.

So they aren’t opposed to any internet regulator bills, just these internet regulatory bills. Still, given how incredibly hard it is to get any legislation passed in the US without Presidential approval, this is a good sign.