Eugene Kaspersky on SOPA: 'It's Jurassic'

The controversial US Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which seeks to stop online piracy may have been shelved, but warnings against it continue.

 

One of the latest criticisms came from Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of computer security firm Kaspersky Labs, who warned of a return to the dinosaur era if it is passed.

 

"Under this law, the interests of non-American authors/creators are not protected at all, while the nationality of the perpetrators is of no importance ... If we accept this law, hundreds of thousands of lawyers will suddenly appear out of the woodwork because almost any website can be accused of copyright infringement! This law will lead to major legalized extortion," Kaspersky said.

 

He added there should be other forms of regulating content distribution without having to enforce laws that would protect only a few.

 

Earlier, Kaspersky had his company pull out from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for supposedly “blindly” supporting SOPA and ignoring other points of view about the rights of others outside the US.

 

Kaspersky warned SOPA may bring the world back to the time of the dinosaurs with “Jurassic” old-world laws forced onto a new world, preventing progress. 

 

“The Internet age has no place for the rudiments of the bygone age of vinyl, which is a far cry from today’s technologies, customer demands and reality in general. Just because this old style of business can’t or won’t change, it is trying to lead the Internet marketplace to any early grave with the help of SOPA and the like,” he said.

 

He added a SOPA era is "complete and utter nonsense from the era of the dinosaurs," whose brains were "the size of a pea."

 

Fighting piracy in any form

 

Kaspersky maintained he is against any form of piracy, as artists and developers are commercially obligated to earn so they can develop more and better products.

 

“Not only do the authors have to eat, they need money to create their products, this intellectual property, which is sometimes a rather cost-based thing,” he said.

 

Kaspersky added distribution processes have changed and consumers are now able to acquire songs, movies, and applications using different methods.

 

He cited Apple's iTunes as one such distribution method, which lets users buy content at a certain cost - while protecting the rights of copyright holders.

 

“Content should be distributed in new ways, that is, low quality content is free --you can take as much as you can eat. Medium quality content should be quick and cheap while high/professional quality should be expensive,” he said. — TJD, GMA News