SOPA Continued

Marco Arment brings a well-reasoned end to the celebration over the temporary SOPA/PIPA defeat. You really should read the whole thing, but here’s a favorite of mine:

The MPAA studios hate us. They hate us with region locks and unskippable screens and encryption and criminalization of fair use. They see us as stupid eyeballs with wallets, and they are entitled to a constant stream of our money. They despise us, and they certainly don’t respect us.

Yet when we watch their movies, we support them.

SOPA will return because Hollywood has money they’re willing to throw at, or withhold from, our elected officials. Just think about it next time you spend money on SOPA backers, that money may end up paying for SOPA 2.0 tomorrow. Withholding funds is one way to let them know how we feel, being picky about the avenues through which we consume their content is another. Supporting relatively user-friendly content channels over insulting ones is one way to show Hollywood the type of service we expect if they want our money. For me iTunes & Netflix are two content channels that are on the right track, despite some problems. If money is free speech, we can use it too.