Here’s a simplified outline of the problems, as I understand it.

The bill seeks to let the government create a naughty list. If you are on the naughty list, or if you link to content hosted by someone on the naughty list, then your whole website can be shut down. The government will block the site by closing the series of tubes that make up the internet.

There are two big problems with this.
1. The first is that the list is not created by standard court proceedings.
2. The second is that the machinery to enforce the naughty list totally screws up internet addressing and security, and is not workable.

Getting on the naughty list
In order to get someone placed on the naughty list, you do not have to sue the accused. You don’t have to  provide proof that you own the content that is being infringed. And the accused does not have conventional rights to challenge the blacklisting: to present an argument that they also might have rights to the content.

This is, as I understand it, injunctive relief. This is normally used for some kind of emergency action by the court. The bill creates a perpetual state of emergency where lots of action would be be taken outside of conventional legal channels.

Any site that allows users to post content is at risk of being shut down, so the naughty list can expand like crazy.

And don’t hold out much hope that photographers and other independent creators can get nbc.com or capitorecords.com or universalpictures.com put on the naughty list simply because they violate *your* copyright. This is a hammer built for the interests of big media.

Breaking DNS
While #1 is a big problem, the bigger problem is the mechanism that the bill proposes to enforce the naughty list. In order to block a website, you need to make sure that no request to see that website (take me to www.Amazon.com) actually goes to Amazon.com.

In order to accomplish the blocking, you need to break a fundamental part of the DNS system (the thing that makes sure that you are at the real Amazon.com). This is not really possible, since there are so darn many tubes.

The official DNS list is sent to all ISPs worldwide, so that requests for websites can be routed properly. SOPA and PIPA want the US government to be able to edit the list used in the US, removing sites that are deemed – outside of a traditional court – to be in violation.This breaks the integrity of the DNS system in a fundamental way.

At best, we could be like China, and block access to naughty sites for web surfers that are located within US borders. But circumventing that is pretty trivial. Millions of foreign portals will spring up that will let you access the real DNS list that the rest of the world uses. Once you go through that portal, you are in a world where all websites could be easily spoofed, since you are outside of the (formerly) standard DNS system.

Once you break the universality of the DNS list, you totally screw up security for nearly everyone. And policing that is a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

But aren’t you in favor of copyright?

I say all of the above in the context of an independent creator – photographer, author, videographer.  Yes, I am infringed every day by companies and individuals and websites in all kinds of ways, including offering free copies of my book to paying members. And I believe that this is a big problem for people like me. I don’t know what the real solution is, but I can definitely see what the solution is not.

Hopefully this thing is dead. Congress is learning that you don’t want to get the internets mad at you.

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As of July 2011, Richard Anderson completed his term as director of the dpBestflow project, and as the chair of ASMP’s Digital Standards and Practices Committee.  This closes a six year chapter of working selflessly and tirelessly on behalf of his fellow photographer.

Richard took over the helm of ASMP’s Digital Standards and Practices Committee in 2005, and became principle author and chair of UPDIG. During his tenure there, he oversaw the production of 5 versions of the best practice document. The UPDIG document represented the best consensus on the technical facets of digital photography for publication, and was instrumental in helping to spread good technical understanding worldwide.

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Editor’s Note: This post was created more than a year ago, and was lost to a blog hack.  Thanks to John Beardsworth for helping to sort out the hack, as well as a more recent one that we’ve been battling for the last month of so. The recent July 4th holiday has prompted me to bring it back out.

Every now and then, I get to work on a project that I’m really proud of – something that is really important.  I consider the virtual Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be one of the best. I was commissioned by Footnote.com to make a digital representation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. They wanted to provide a way for everyone to experience the power of the wall, regardless of their ability to travel to Washington. And they wanted to let visitors leave behind comments and photos, in the same way visitors do at the real wall.

When you click on the name of any person on the wall, you get some information about that person, age, hometown, rank, cause of death. You also get the opportunity to upload comments or photos to the record of that person. In this way the wall becomes more than just a list of 58,000 names – it becomes a record of 58,000 individuals. The tragedy of war, and the depth of the sacrifice of the individual soldier is made all the more real when you see the comments of family, friends, and comrades left behind.

Tips on navigating the site and more on the project after the jump.

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I was in Copenhagen today finishing my visit here. I’ve been staying with my friends Jens and Dodo, which has been very relaxed and fun.  Today I had a great meeting with Phase One, discussing the future of Expression Media.  I’m happy to report that the team there seems to be on the right track, and has a great understanding of the user landscape, technical issues, and what matters to photographers.

But the real highlight of the day was lunch with my 95-year-old friend Luffe Baggesen.  He’s been a friend of the family since 1948, when he came to America to train with my grandfather and be chastised by my great grandmother for smoking his cigars. Luffe has always been a free spirit and a true delight  He has an unmatched joie de vivre, and he takes great pleasure letting the air out of anything he thinks is too self-important.

Jens I and brought the smørrebrød and Tuborg, and Luffe brought out the Akvavit. It was a most excellent lunch.  Not only did we hear some great old stories from the past, but Luffe told us what he’s been up to recently (visiting west Africa), and what he’s scheduled for (making a presentation at the Karen Blixen house about her – they were friends.)  We also pulled out some old photo albums and I made a few copy photographs, including this one from 1951, inscribed by my grandfather. Luffe is the second from the left, and that’s Harold Krogh in the striped suit. Jens’s mother and father are just to the right of my grandfather.

I plan to be back in Copenhagen in 2016 for Luffe’s 100th birthday.

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