Taiwan’s SOPA-like Copyright Bill Shot Down In Flames

According to a report by TechDirt there has been public outcry in Taiwan over the government’s proposed copyright bill. Apparently during May the Taiwanese government created and submitted a SOPA-like (Stop Online Piracy Act) bill to combat copyright violations. The legislation was apparently draw up by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

Yet the public weren’t happy at all and clearly the Taiwanese IPO missed the fact that the internet doesn’t like SOPA wherever it is located and whatever form  it comes in. A public blackout begun with Wikipedia Taiwan and Mozilla Taiwan leading the way. In the end the proposal was abandoned without the need for lots of public protests.

Though like many other countries Taiwanese internet users are not out of deep water just yet because the proposal will undergo a process of adjustment and revision and will probably be introduced again in a different form in the hope that the public doesn’t notice and that the authorities can quietly slip it through.

As the EFF explains:

The unfortunate reality is that many government authorities around the world still buy into the belief that the health of the Internet is acceptable collateral damage in this manufactured war on copyright infringement. Lawmakers need to understand that creativity and innovation can only thrive when our platforms remain open, where users are free to share and experiment with content. While it’s clear that the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office did not learn from the mistakes of SOPA and PIPA in the U.S., let’s hope others see the defeat of this latest copyright blacklist law and recognize that users will not put up with efforts to censor the Internet.

Image courtesy of FlagsInformation.com