Tim O’Reilly: Why I’m fighting SOPA

As the debate about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) rages on from Silicon Valley to Washington (DC), a number of the technology industry’s most influential leaders have come out against the proposed legislation, which would give the government and private corporations unprecedented powers to remove websites from the internet for any alleged copyright infringement.

I interviewed Tim O’Reilly about why he believes SOPA is wrong and what the tech industry can do to stop it. His concerns fell into five main categories:

1. Piracy is not a real problem
2. SOPA protects the wrong people
3. SOPA ignores history
4. Tech and lobbying don’t mix
5. The US needs tech innovation