Though it may be an old issue, I think the would-be Congressional laws SOPA and PIPA have raised questions about how best to protect copyright. Surely these acts are dead, but corporations like the Motion Picture Association of America still need to find new ways to protect their economic interests in copyrights. Since most piracy online comes from independent users, a direct approach to monitoring and punishing offenders would be impossible. Instead, copyright laws attack the bigger, more visible targets. For example, SOPA would have shut down an entire site if it had been found to possess copyrighted material illegally (even though the users were responsible for putting that content on the site). With this maneuver out of the picture, it looks like copyright owners are going after internet service providers. One plan calls for providers to slow down internet speed or even cut service entirely from repeat offenders.

Another interesting part of this article: It looks like Google has changed its algorithm to force copyrighted material into low priority on searches. If I can’t find copyrighted material, I guess I won’t be able to infringe it. This caught my attention because Google was one of many sites to black out for a day in protest of SOPA. To see them now compromising with those who would have loved to see the act pass seems hypocritical.