Jensen, P. and Webster, E. (2012). “Hollywood reads from the wrong script”, Australian Financial Review, 23rd January, p.47.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) essentially boil down to a fight between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over policing alleged copyright infringers on the internet. The forces on the Hollywood side of the debate see any infringement as tantamount to piracy which should be stamped out. They want perfect enforcement of copyright laws. All this has echoes about the debate of 10 years, so it seems appropriate to revisit the economic rationale for copyright and then reconsider the Hollywood vs Silicon Valley debate in this light.