Protect Creative Content Creation & Join REDEFINE In SOPA/PIPA Blackout

Commentary From Music Sites Blacked Out TODAY { HERE }

> Cohesive List of Companies and Organizations Opposing SOPA/PIPA { HERE }

I am writing this letter with the sincere hopes of convincing anyone involved in or inspired by the music, film and arts industries to join REDEFINE in taking a united stand against two bills that, if passed, may greatly restrict creative freedom as we know it. The possibility of government-sanctioned censorship of the internet is very, very near.

On Tuesday, January 24th, 2012, Congress is set to vote on Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA), two extremely loosely-worded and broad bills that would give the United States government the power to deny user access to any websites they feel are violating piracy laws.

If they pass, SOPA and PIPA have potentially serious repercussions for smaller and independent music and arts publications, blogs, record labels, and distribution sites. They are backed by the major music and film industries, and if these bills pass, we will see the distribution of media controlled by companies that care only about profits and the preservation of their businesses in the digital age.

First, if you’re skeptical that these bills will affect you or I, you should also know that:
THESE BILLS HAVEN’T EVEN PASSED AND WE ARE ALREADY BEING AFFECTED.

One hip-hop site was seized for a year without warning, for posting content that they were given by the record labels to post. They were punished simply because RIAA assumed they were posting unauthorized content, although everything was fully authorized.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”
— George Orwell, 1984

If SOPA and PIPA pass, we would be relying on the judgment of the government and major film and music corporations to determine who is actually violating piracy rules. And considering how personally disconnected from the arts all of those entities are, it would be the overwhelming influence of money, not of maintaining artistic integrity, that ultimately wins. Smaller publications without the financial or influential means of defending themselves could find themselves being unfairly punished. Even artist-supported distribution sites like SoundCloud may be considered a threat.

A quote from German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler paints a vivid picture of how innovation and growth will be limited, should these bills pass:

“… an older alien Culture lies so massively over the land that a young culture born in this land, cannot get its breath and fails to achieve pure and specific expression-forms, but even to develop fully its own self-consciousness.”
— Oswald Spengler, The Decline Of The West

The internet that we know it — an unregulated one — blooms with brilliant ideas. With it has come developments more incredible and wide-reaching than we ever would have imagined, including new media distribution models which have given your average content creator and passionate human a fighting chance. Our favorite artists, musicians, and filmmakers have the internet to thank for this. But under PIPA and SOPA, the government will be employing tactics Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin considers to be akin to those employed by the governments of China and Iran, and the internet will be regulated in a way that effectively limits creative expansion.

To anyone who sincerely cares about artistic growth and integrity, I hope that you will join REDEFINE — and countless other sites — in 12 hours of Blackout on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 from 8:00am to 8:00pm, to help raise awareness about the issue. Send me a message with a link to your website if you plan to participate or view a list of participating sites. Those without websites can help spread the word or find other ways to get involved via the links below.

Creation paves the way towards a better future. Let’s work together on supporting what we love.

Vivian Hua
Editor-in-Chief