Going back to what I was previously saying, being a musician, I’ve realized that you can’t expect to make money from selling media, be it movies or music or photographs. They’re too easy to pirate. I could attempt to sell my album for five bucks (or something more outlandish), but by the time the first copy has left my hands, it has the potential of being pirated by everyone on the internet. Which is awesome. So I’ve learned to cut out the middle-man and give everything away. I’ll probably work in a completely different profession for the rest of my life, but I’ll continue to make music for my own enjoyment as long as I can afford to.

What I’m saying is that you have to stop thinking of movie and music sales as guaranteed income. Nothing is guaranteed in media anymore. Ever. Sitting around being bitter about spending money on something you supposedly enjoy doing, expecting every copy of your product to be purchased legitimately, is much like expecting the rain to instantly stop and the sun to come out at your whim. It’s not possible.

I make music. I’ve spent thousands on instruments, computers, software, and all of the odds and ends that go along with recording music. I don’t expect to make that money back because I’m not stupid enough to believe that selling music is a viable way to make money. I bought a $1,300 Moog and a copy of Ableton Live and a copy of Massive and a copy of Ozone and a copy of Guitar Rig and invested money into a powerful computer and bought good cables and microphones and a good audio interface and spent years of my time learning how to mix and master because I enjoy making music, and I wanted to learn. I didn’t purchase those things hoping that one day I might be able to write them off on my taxes as a business expense.

Once again, this is about mass theft. Not the right to share files. What SOPA does is limits the mass theft that these systems create. If it’s a small community of file shares, that’s not going to harm the industry and won’t pop up on the radar. What is happening currently, is happening in the millions. You are legally allowed to make 10 copies every 180 days.

Shutting down sites need to be as annoying as the sites that keep popping up. It would be an on going process. Until it absolutely is easier to get a Netflix account. This is a two fold discussion. Changing the model and defending the rights of content creators.

And I think the sole purpose of any of the provisions about linking to other sites, is a legal precedence forcing Google to help eradicate the ease of online piracy. It’s blatant and in your face. A small base fee hardly can compete with free. I hardly think the big studios will focus on any little website with a small following. This takes money on their end. They want, as do I, the Google listings that pop to the top, providing a free download, rather than a small fee for viewing, to go away.

Without delivery of proof? The bill clearly states that you have 5 days to respond with a rebuttal. Hardly an open ticket to go around shutting things down. Once again, a huge leap and over exaggerated assumption. There is also a provision that protects companies that would be financially destroyed by prosecution. All you have to do is help. Once again? What better wording would you like?

Wikileaks can be defended under Freedom of the Press. And if true hackers can get around the domain name issue, than they can get their message out anyway.

And I think Thomas Jefferson would agree that a forum for defending your rights should be provided by the government. For both filmmakers and for internet companies. Someone’s rights can’t be sacrificed for someone’s else’s.

Big boy’s rules. If you are going to go global, better get a lawyer. That’s the American way. That’s what keeps us free. If you can’t acknowledge that, you have no grasp of the concept of the “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

I also want to point out: What is the failed business model? A company that has their product stolen? Or a company that makes a living by stealing product?

And this isn’t about ideas. This is about a product. A file. This is a tangible item, that costs a lot of money to produce. No different than an app, a car or a house. And in a lot of cases, more expensive. So don’t boil this down to “I discovered gravity! You can’t use it!”

The rest of your post is a stretch of the imagination, and it’s just as easy to say this would all go away if the Sun imploded, turned into a black hole and consumed the earth. Let’s keep it real please.