SOPA is a broad attack on all free speech

Today, I sent the following letter to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada.

Dear Mr. Harper:

As you are likely aware, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is working its way through the US House of Representatives.

Although this bill is designed to stop piracy, its practical effect would be to chill all free speech – and in particular that which relies on Fair Dealing, such as satire – on any part of the internet in any way connected to the United States. This includes traffic passing through US servers from other countries, as well as Canadian users with domain names sold by US companies. (For more information on how this bill would affect Canadians, please look at the following website: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57329001-281/how-sopa-would-affect-you-faq/)

While I do agree with the need for copyright protection, I do not agree with much of anything that appears in SOPA, least of all its implicit attack on Canadian sovereignty by making those of us who provide web content subject to US copyright law despite our being citizens of another nation and our hosting content on Canadian or international servers.

SOPA also permits complainants to have an incredible amount of power, such that a site can be blocked or removed without notice to the content provider, and without any neutral third-party oversight that might be provided in a court of law.

This is not fear-mongering: It's fact.

SOPA is nothing less than a broad attack on the Freedom of Speech, and this attack extends to every country that allows users to access the global internet and upload content there.

If for no other reason than to protect our national sovereignty, it is imperative that the Government of Canada take a strong and unwavering stand against SOPA.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

A. Martin