SOPA rationale

January 18, 2012 6:32 PM

Why do non-media companies support SOPA?

This was a great question for learning about the justifications that are given for SOPA, but I'm also interested in the realpolitik (or perhaps even conspiracy theory) of why corporate bottom lines are affected enough for them to make an issue of it.

Here's a list of companies supporting the bill.

Why would a company like Adidas be interested?

posted by spbmp to Law & Government (7 answers total)

Best answer: From the letters on the judiciary committee page -- Adidas isn't there, but a few other apparel brands are:

From Tiffany's letter: ..."For approximately a decade, Tiffany & Co. has seen exponential growth of the misuse of the internet as a means of facilitating the global trade in counterfeit goods.... SOPA offers a response to counterfeiting, with its recognition that all legitimate businesses operating online have a role to play in ensuring the safety and vitality of the internet for both consumers and rights holders"

From True Religion Jeans' Letter: "...we cannot lose sight of the harm also suffered by U.S. manufacturers. Nor can we ignore the harm suffered by the U.S. customers who are duped into purchasing illegal counterfeit products that are not what they paid for, of inferior quality, and in certain cases unsafe. Law enforcement would quickly shut down brick and mortar stores openly selling counterfeit products. There is no reason to treat online stores openly doing the same thing any differently.
"Manufacturers typically spend enormous sums building up brand recognition and consumer trust in their products. Online piracy robs U.S. manufacturers not only of sales, but also of their hard won reputations..."

So, probably Adidas has similar reasons.
posted by brainmouse at 6:39 PM on January 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

Internet piracy, they say, is eating away at content providers' profits.

In TV, that profit comes from advertising.

Fewer (legitimate) TV viewers means fewer eyeballs on the commercial breaks.

Who else benefits from advertising? The companies being advertised, like Adidas and whatnot.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:49 PM on January 18, 2012

For large ISPs and incumbent carriers, they support it because they have the money to invest in infrastructure to enforce it, while smaller CLECs don't (the few that remain, anyway).
posted by empath at 6:53 PM on January 18, 2012

I may be wrong, but I think companies that have any kind of intellectual property rights could benefit from SOPA, not just media companies. SOPA could block the websites of foreign companies which sell Adidas knock-offs, for example.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 7:07 PM on January 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's counterfeiting - really, the counterfeiting and distribution that goes on overseas appears to be the primary impetus for these pieces of legislation. The solution isn't these bills, but it's not surprising that so many IP owners are willing to get behind anything, these days.
posted by SMPA at 7:12 PM on January 18, 2012

I may be wrong, but I think companies that have any kind of intellectual property rights could benefit from SOPA, not just media companies.

You're not wrong. SOPA is about all IP, not just media. We've focused on media in the U.S. because there's been so many examples of abuse from Big Media. Also, legitimate websites are much, MUCH more likely to get taken down by a false claim of copyright infringement for hosting a song than they are from selling fake Adidas.

But only part of SOPA deals with media; the rest is about counterfeiting, and Adidas would of course be a major supporter of efforts to stop that.

Fewer (legitimate) TV viewers means fewer eyeballs on the commercial breaks.
Who else benefits from advertising? The companies being advertised, like Adidas and whatnot.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Adidas -- or anyone else -- backing SOPA.
posted by coolguymichael at 8:01 AM on January 19, 2012

Counterfeit goods are actually the major target of SOPA. It's just that the bill is broad enough that it could also apply to any type of "piracy" and that's where they would potentially go after any website that depends on user contribution (Wikipedia, Reddit, etc)
posted by dagnyscott at 12:06 PM on January 19, 2012