You know, this video is perversely the exact reason for SOPA to go ahead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc&rel=0

Why? there’s enough ammo in that video to shut down the websites of Big Media, the main proponents of the bill… and cut off their funding… part of the bill’s requirements include US-based payment processors, such as Visa and Mastercard to cut them off. Watch how quickly they will reverse their position, once they are the target of this legislation,

The irony is, you don’t even need any ammo; the idea is, for only an allegation to be made to shut a site down. This leaves it open to all kinds of abuse, which is no doubt the real intention of Big Media. Any site publishing a less-than-glowing review of a media production can just be shut down. It is then the onus of the site owner, to demonstrate that they didn’t have any pirated content; this will involve extensive (and expensive) legal costs, more so than the average individual blogger can bear — it’s a case of guilty until proven innocent. Besides, all they need to do is have one of their own agents-provocateurs post a comment containing a pirate link, for the site to be in violation.

They’re even going as far as trying to ban VPN software, making things like Hide My Ass just for foreigners with Roku boxes or trying to use Hulu or US Netflix. But, such bans will be about as effective as Chinese anti-gambling laws (“It’s not very effective.”).

Unless used against Big Media first, the bill will do nothing to stop media piracy, but instead will stifle any sort of free speech that is remotely critical of Big Media.
(Oymyakon update: -52°C)