Why curators should care about SOPA/PIPA

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Today the Internet is going into a big battle to protect its historical model based on freedom, sharing and innovation. In protest against SOPA/PIPA, Wikipedia, Reddit and other sites will go dark for 24 hours. A lot has already been said on this as you can see by searching SOPA on Scoop.it or by following some of the topics focused on this such as http://www.scoop.it/t/stop-sopa.

At Scoop.it, we also think this is a bad thing for the Internet in general and we will attend the protests in San Francisco later on today. We think everyone should form his/her general opinion freely on this matter but we also wanted to highlight what it means for curators and for a service such as ours.

As we’ve had the opportunity to highlight several times, curation is fundamentally a content-friendly act. This literally means caring about content: caring enough to highlight it, promote it, share it and make other people want to enjoy it as well. This has always happened but historically, this was something done by a minority – a few gatekeepers. In such a model, a few decided what content we were going to consume. But what we’ve seen with Web 2.0 is that we could have a different model with many sharing content to many. As curators multiply and everyone becomes a publisher, we can all see the benefits through the diversity of opinions being expressed, the long-tail of niche topics being covered or the variety of content being discovered.

But this model has a prerequisite: the freedom to chose the content being shared. Without that freedom, curators would lose their motivation and curation would stop making sense.

Curation starts by selection and true choice implies freedom.

SOPA/PIPA would change this and remove that freedom. How so? By making web site responsible for policing user-contributed material (vs right owners under today’s DMCA), which can only be done for small teams by restricting access to content. Practically, this means everything is forbidden before it’s approved.

Churchill used to say : “In England, everything is permitted, except that which is forbidden. In Germany, everything is forbidden, except that which is permitted. In France, everything is permitted even that which is forbidden. In the USSR, everything is forbidden, even that which is permitted.” DMCA is England; the Movie Industry thinks it’s France and wants us to be in Germany but this will end up in the USSR.

Curators are subjective and that’s good: this is about expression and giving context. So as we love freedom of expression, we’re not shutting down today since we’d love to hear how you agree or disagree. And what stories you’ll curate on that topic.

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marti garaughty
12 years ago

This whole SOPA concept could be a chapter directly out of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged!

Laura Brown
12 years ago

I’m not in the US or any big enough city to take part. But I blacked out my site today.

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[…] Via Scoop.it – Bibliotecas Escolares ArgentinasHoy en día Internet está entrando en una gran batalla para proteger su modelo histórico basado en la libertad, el intercambio y la innovación. En señal de protesta contra la SOPA / PIPA, Wikipedia, Reddit y otros sitios se apagarán durante 24 horas.  Scoop.it!, también cree que esto es malo para el Internet en general y vamos a asistir a las protestas en San Francisco más tarde el día de hoy. Creemos que todos deberían formar su opinión libremente sobre este asunto, pero queremos destacar lo que significa esto para los curadores de contenidos… Read more »

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Michael Bourne
12 years ago

The real reason for SOPA has nothing to do with “theft” it’s to do with money. Hollywood is losing millions apparently. Well considering the absolute excesses of hollywood and the obscene amounts of money it makes, perhaps they should consider dropping prices. I find it absurd that manufactured DVD has a mark up of several hundred percent. When I read headlines like “hollywood to fight obama” it sickens me. Government policy has been decided on, who the hell gives film makers the right to question the millions that have protested. Don’t they see that as indicative that it’s hollywood and… Read more »

Gina
12 years ago
Reply to  Michael Bourne

Also government should limit intellectual work prices. Because its not unique we are buying copy’s anyway.

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Nuagosc
Nuagosc
12 years ago

I dead a Scoop.it on this ; c’est normal, non ?! …

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12 years ago

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[…] jQuery("#errors*").hide(); window.location= data.themeInternalUrl; } }); } blog.scoop.it – Today, 5:45 […]

executive gifts
12 years ago

I envy the action that people in the US did in order to protect their internet freedom. I hope that my people will also act like that if ever ACTA tries to curtail our freedom. Down to SOPA!

marti garaughty
12 years ago

This whole SOPA concept could be a chapter directly out of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged!

Laura Brown
12 years ago

I’m not in the US or any big enough city to take part. But I blacked out my site today.

Michael Bourne
12 years ago

The real reason for SOPA has nothing to do with “theft” it’s to do with money. Hollywood is losing millions apparently. Well considering the absolute excesses of hollywood and the obscene amounts of money it makes, perhaps they should consider dropping prices. I find it absurd that manufactured DVD has a mark up of several hundred percent. When I read headlines like “hollywood to fight obama” it sickens me. Government policy has been decided on, who the hell gives film makers the right to question the millions that have protested. Don’t they see that as indicative that it’s hollywood and… Read more »

Gina
12 years ago
Reply to  Michael Bourne

Also government should limit intellectual work prices. Because its not unique we are buying copy’s anyway.

Nuagosc
Nuagosc
12 years ago

I dead a Scoop.it on this ; c’est normal, non ?! …

Danielle Russell
12 years ago

I envy the action that people in the US did in order to protect their internet freedom. I hope that my people will also act like that if ever ACTA tries to curtail our freedom. Down to SOPA!

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