Or so the MPAA, RIAA, Facebook, and the government would have you believe.
The defeat of SOPA has not proved to be a deterrent, it has been seen as a bump in the road. The foes of privacy are counting on the mobilization of people by SOPA was a one time thing, and that they will be able to slip future bills though much more easily.
The threat isn't from a single source, but the largest offenders are the following:
ACTA - Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The text and details have been kept secret from the public, but negotiated with industry trade groups. The administration is moving forward with ACTA as a trade deal, and not a treaty. If it was a treaty it would require a vote in the senate.
CIPSA The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. The bill would allow a content provider and the government to collect private messages, and without a warrant. "Even encrypting your emails—could be considered an indicator of a “threat” under the Senate bills." And as a final insult to injury, the bar to sue for improper collection or usage of the information is set impossibly high.
The TPP Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Extending copyright beyond the 70+ years, erode rights for fair use (non-commercial use provisions), and criminal penalties would apply to non-for-profit infringement.
February 2011 draft U.S. TPP Intellectual Property Rights Chapter indicates that U.S. negotiators are pushing for the adoption of copyright measures far more restrictive than currently required by international treaties, including the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.- Electronic Freedom Foundation
Far more detail here.
SOPA2 Chis Dodd is confident in a SOPA revival.
The MPAA/RIAA and the pharmaceutical industries all have their claws in several of the above. The claims of safety for the end user, that pirating is killing their business, and that piracy are killing jobs and baby kittens.
I welcome their chance to make these claims, and to advocate their positions. Publicly. In the common square and to push for legislation on the merits of that legislation. I also want their opponents, in this case - me, a chance to have a voice tell them what is wrong with their ideas, and why.
What these trade agreements, laws, and anything else you want to call them are doing is changing the very basis of what we have had for not just the past several years, but for generations. A sense of fairness, a sense of privacy. All done in the name of corporate control and profits.
