SOPA is a Jerk!

Posted on at 8:08 PM by Moobeat

Today Riot announced its official stance against the Stop Online Piracy Act and prepared a thoughtful post giving everyone some insight on why they made their choice and what you, as a loyal summoner, can do to stop SOPA. I strongly urge all of you to rally around Riot and make it your voice heard on the issue. SOPA is a jerk and I, as a seasoned veteran of the internet, personally do not want anything to do with it! If SOPA was passed it will spell certain doom for gaming blogs like this and all the others we enjoy every day.

Summoners,

We’re not usually inclined to comment on politics. We’re a game company, and making games is just a whole lot more fun.

But there is legislation under consideration today by the United States Congress that gives us serious concern.

Called the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) in the House of Representatives and the "PROTECT IP Act" (PIPA) in the Senate, these bills are a misguided attempt to curb the illegal piracy of copyrighted content (like movies, music and games). Preventing piracy of copyrighted content is a laudable goal, and Riot supports legitimate efforts to combat these activities and protect content creators (like us).

However, SOPA/PIPA goes far beyond simply addressing piracy. This proposed legislation actually threatens any website that features user-generated content. In effect, any copyright holder could file a claim that a streaming website is hosting unauthorized content (such as a song in the background of a League of Legends stream). Under the law, ad networks, payment providers and internet service providers are now potentially liable for their user’s infringement. These services could then be compelled to immediately remove support for a streaming website or face a costly legal battle – at a minimum cutting off financial means, and likely shutting off the site entirely.

How would SOPA/PIPA impact League of Legends players?
  • Kills streaming. If any single streamer plays copyrighted music (or alt tabs into a movie or other owned content) on their stream, there is a significant risk of the entire streaming service being taken down. In some cases, it could even result in criminal penalties for the streamer.
  • Threatens independent content creation. Services we all use to create and share League of Legends related content, such as YouTube, Reddit, DeviantArt, streaming websites such as Own3d and Twitch, and more would be at risk of shutting down or greatly restricting the scope of legitimate content allowed on their sites.
  • Attacks our community. Aspects of our service such as the official forums and potentially even in-game chat, could be taken down or have their features reduced based on user behavior.
  • Other harmful effects. SOPA/PIPA undermine established intellectual property legislation like the DMCA, raise serious constitutional free speech issues, and could even compromise the basic security infrastructure of the internet.

Congress will reconvene at the end of January, and with a long roster of supporters on both sides of the aisle, SOPA/PIPA could actually pass. The likelihood is so great that technology giants including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter have gone so far as to publicly consider a simultaneous blackout in protest.

Riot Games is opposed to SOPA/PIPA in their present form. While we do support efforts to prevent online piracy, the current form of this legislation comes at far too high a cost for us, our players, and online communities across the internet.

Help us take a stand. Write your congressperson today and voice your opposition to this misguided and harmful legislation:https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173
 - Ryze, CEO / Co-founder, via the official forums.






If you have any questions or comments about SOPA, be sure to head on over reddit where Lomar has started an AMA about SOPA. What a guy!

It is also worth mentioning that there is a special guest lurking the League of Legends forum. Check out what Colorado Congressman Jared Colis had to say about SOPA and LoL.

6 comments

  1. I'm not sure if it will target gaming blogs unless we embed videos with copyright infringing material. It's definitely a very big deal for a lot of important LoL propagating platforms though.

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  2. I looked up that congressmans profile. He played 2 games and he is level 2 lol.

    It doesbt feel right for a congressman to play LoL, let alone make this post:
    "Jus saying it might b copyright!"
    Doesnt he have a lot of education?

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    Replies
    1. (no in reply to Aegis, was not able to create an individual comment)

      Moobeat,
      Riot announced today its official stance against the Stop Online "Privacy" Act and prepared a thoughtful post giving everyone some insight on why they made their choice and what you, as a loyal summoner, can do to stop SOPA.

      just a typo. it made me stop and think really hard for a while. until i read jared polis' post lol

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  3. is pretty clear that the account "rep jared polis" was made for the occasion. i dont know if he really have a true account, but he seems to know the game from his posts. he seems a cool guy too.

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  4. This needs to be stopped, or else things will just progressively get more and more restrictive.

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  5. @Raving

    Thanks for the heads up :)

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