SOPA and PIPA
At this point, I imagine anyone with Internet access has heard of SOPA and PIPA. I found last Wednesday’s online protest quite enjoyable. I love political activism; I love seeing a people stand up to Washington and the large companies who try to purchase power over us*; and I hope this bill goes down because it will do little concerning piracy but could change the Internet as we know it.
Wednesday was a big win. I hope neither of these bills (and anything like them) ever pass.
But I’m also concerned about piracy, the issue some had hoped the bills would address. I’m concerned by the realization that *many* good persons are pirating music, films, and software…but few seem care.
I have a story about piracy. A story from my life.
My Lack of Music Problem
I was never one to listen to music regularly, so over the course of my high school years I acquired only a couple music CDs. But when I went to school (Virginia) in the Fall of 2004, I realized I do enjoy listening to music sometimes; it’s just that when I was home I’d relied upon overhearing music others were playing. So I set about to fix my lack of music problem.
It started small, I ripped a couple of my sister’s CDs to my computer, and I used iTunes to manage my music. It wasn’t long before I wanted to listen to something else, so I found it online for free (maybe a Russian site, etcetera).
Next thing you know, I wasn’t just using iTunes, I was also using MyTunes (pirating music from other computers that shared music via iTunes). Within months I’d amassed tens of gigabytes of music. It was wonderful—I had everything from Elvis to Shania Twain to Papa Roach to Snoop Dogg to Nickel Creek.
Reality Check
After this behavior began (probably more than a year later) I had a conversation with a friend. He confronted me: piracy is wrong, he clearly conveyed; it’s theft.
The wheels began turning in my head. Our conversation didn’t last too long…but I continued to have one with myself for a long while; I wanted to justify my behavior, explain how it wasn’t that bad.
(An Aside Concerning Definitions)
I realize that not everyone agrees upon what piracy means, and I don’t plan to settle the discussion now (I’m not entirely sure myself).
- Often fair use is treated as infringement by groups like Universal Music Group.
- Often we pirate and don’t even know it!
Yes, gray areas exist. For the purposes of this post, let’s ignore those gray areas and focus on the clear areas (such as the piracy I was guilty of early in my college years).
And let’s face it, though gray area piracy does occur often, straight up piracy is super common, and it’s done by normal and generally upstanding citizens of our nation.
Is Internet Piracy Really Theft?
Obviously theft is wrong. If someone questions this, we have other issues with which to deal! (Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.”)
Certainly back in the day that mostly applied to physical property (e.g. baskets, pigs, hammers, and pens)
But what about intellectual property (IP—the IP in PIPA)? IP is less tangible (e.g. brand names, music, designs, and prose).
Consider this passage:
1 Corinthians 9:9-11, For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?
In a relatively direct way Paul is saying that intangible investments (i.e. teaching, prayer, etc.) that he and others have made are worthy of material compensation. Paul used a passage from the law of Moses, and shows that it was not written so much for the sake of oxen, but as a specific instance of a big idea: it is right and good for us to enjoy the fruit of our labor.
And Paul’s specific application shows that whether that labor results in something super tangible like houses and crops or something less tangible such as excellent public addresses and written letters, it is right and good for the laborer to enjoy the fruit of his labor.
Ecclesiastes 3:13, Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Thus, when people write/perform/record music, when they design logos, when they create video games, when they write screenplays, etc…it is good and right for them to enjoy the fruit of their labor. And if they write a super popular screenplay, then it is good and right for them to enjoy *lots* of fruit.
(And, yes—for those quick to judge—it is also good and right for them to be generous with that fruit.)
Personal Attestation: As someone who’s possessed much more intellectual property than traditional property, I can bear witness to the fact that that IP often is the result of much labor! (That said, I’m a big open source fan and don’t mind sharing the fruit of *most* of my labor.)
I’ve recorded music, played shows, written at length, built software, etc. IP is most definitely the result of labor, and it should be enjoyed by the laborer. And when you use or make a copy of that property without permission, you’re depriving a laborer of the fruit of his labors; you’re muzzling the ox. This is sin.
(Again, fair use is massively important…and there are many gray areas. I briefly addressed this in the aside earlier in the post.)
My Excuses
After determining it was wrong, I still wanted to justify my piracy—I didn’t want to lose all the music I’d acquired!
These are two excuses I actually told myself:
- Everyone Does It
So? Since when does God call us to the holiness standard set by “everyone”?
I had no answer.
- I Don’t Feel Convicted When I Pirate Music
This seemed to satisfy. After all, if celebrating no day as holy doesn’t bother your conscience, then don’t celebrate, right (Rom. 14)? And then I realized, “How terrifying—that my actions are clearly condemned by the Word of God and yet not by my own conscience!”
It was as if my conscience had been “seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim 4:2); it was unresponsive to this sin.
The End of My Story
I repented. I deleted the music. I do my best to refrain from piracy (again, there definitely are gray areas).
And my conscience is much more sensitive in this area now. (I’m even convicted as I write this concerning a piece of software; I need to look into the licensing details!)
Conclusion
What’s the solution? Well, certainly not SOPA and PIPA! They wouldn’t have stopped the college-freshman-me anyway…but a lot of passion was exhibited the other day—a people taking a stand for liberty.
And I would love to see as much passion exhibited by a people in support of the respect of intellectual property. And not a stand that necessarily results in laws, but results in individuals calling each other out and taking a stand for God honoring activity.
Piracy might get someone the coolest things fastest, but I don’t think piracy is cool in God’s book.
The end.
* (I didn’t want to distract from my point up top…but this is too good not to mention!) We’ve all long known that corporations regularly bribe politicians through campaign contributions (and are often successful). One amazingly direct quotation surfaced through this whole SOPA/PIPA ordeal, a statement from a studio chief who said, “God knows how much money we’ve given to Obama and the Democrats and yet they’re not supporting our interests.”
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