[jiggy2011]

The thing with this is I just can't imagine the App store getting shut down because of this, or even youtube.

There would be a serious uproar if that happened, people wouldn't stand for it.

More likely is that some pirate sites will die and others will just go deeper underground. The people who are likely to be scared into shutting up shop all together will be smaller distributors of independent or amateur content.

I would be saddened if the Internet became like the high street circa 1996 with a few large companies and producers setting the agenda for what we will watch and listen to.

[westicle]

That's why in a country which operates under the rule of law SOPA should never pass. If the plain reading of a law results in outcomes which you can't imagine, then the law is an ass.

The attitude of "yes this law applies to the app store but it will never BE applied to the app store" is basically an exercise in double-think, and in my view is morally suspect.

What is the criteria then for who the law SHOULD be applied to? People the RIAA don't like? People legitimately disrupting established industries? People competing commercially with the friends of senators? The whole point of the rule of law is to prevent arbitrary exercise of discretion. The law either applies equally to everyone or applies to no-one.

[nitrogen]

The people who are likely to be scared into shutting up shop all together will be smaller distributors of independent or amateur content.

I would be saddened if the Internet became like the high street circa 1996 with a few large companies and producers setting the agenda for what we will watch and listen to.

That's exactly what we have to worry about, and exactly what old-school content providers have been fighting for ever since the Internet was created.

We use YouTube and the App Store as examples that appeal to the common person's awareness of the Internet, but we have to be far more concerned about the effects of SOPA/PIPA/etc. on the next YouTube.

[Natsu]

> The thing with this is I just can't imagine the App store getting shut down because of this, or even youtube.

Viacom was essentially trying to drive YouTube into bankruptcy with its lawsuit against them. Granted, they lost.

[zacharycohn]

Okay, maybe they wouldn't take down Youtube. But the chances of someone uploading a copyrighted video to Justin.tv? Or a thousand other small video hosting sites? Very high.

Right now, someone files a notice, and Justin.tv says "oh crap! Lets take that down." and they do and everyone is happy.

In the future, someone might file a notice, and then Justin Kan shows up at work one day and finds that his entire business has been taken offline by the government.

[timwiseman]

The thing with this is I just can't imagine the App store getting shut down because of this, or even youtube.

Those two are so well known and have so many lawyers at the ready they would be safe.

But, there are plenty of smaller, legitimate services and sites that would be shut down because of SOPA.