cPanel Takes Aim at Both the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PIPA Bills

cPanel has come out strongly against both the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills that have recently been floating around the US Congress pose as they believe these bills are a severe threat to the web hosting industry as a whole. Specifically, the cPanel press release noted that while the SOPA along with the PIPA bills were created with good intentions, namely stopping copyright and trademark infringement, the press release also mentioned that these bills would:

• Restrict or limit free speech on the Internet due to the vague wording of the bills.
• Obstruct the so-called “safe harbor” protections that are given to website operators by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
• Block online payment processors along with advertising networks from doing business with websites that are merely suspected of infringing on copyrights and trademarks.
• Allow for the creation of arbitrary “blacklists” of websites that are merely suspected of infringement.
• Scare potential investors or financers away from funding Internet startups.
• Possibly criminalize conduct that is currently legal.

Finally, cPanel noted that the most troubling aspect about both the SOPA and PIPA bills is that they will actually do little to stop online piracy. After all, most violators of copyright and trademark rules will simply open a new website immediately after the old one is shut down for violations.

Hence and to help fight, cPanel will be donating $5,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that has been fighting to preserve individuals’ digital rights for more than two decades now. In addition and for every tweet that cPanel hosting providers post with the hash tag #cpanel4antisopa, cPanel will also be donating an additional $2.50 up to a total donation of $10,000.

In addition, the Save Hosting Coalition made up of various web hosting providers who oppose the bill has also recently announced that it had received 300 industry executive signatures for a letter to be sent to the US House Judiciary Committee’s chairman and ranking member. Once lawmakers return from their current winter recess, both the SOPA and PIPA bills will likely be taken up and debated.