

SOPA doesn't apply to foreign sites only, as NBCUniversal General Counsel claims - RichardPrice
http://www.richardprice.io/post/15996530500/richard-cottons-claims-that-sopa-only-affects-foreign

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lusr
While it's important to point out this inaccuracy, I don't understand the
amount of attention in the debate given to whether SOPA affects foreign sites
only or not. Would it make the bill any more acceptable if it were only to
affect sites hosted outside the USA?

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RichardPrice
I think this is more of a credibility issue - i.e. can you trust that this
person is giving you the precise facts, allowing you to draw your own
conclusions, or are they given you a spun version, with certain facts bent, to
greater or lesser degrees, to their advantage?

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thebigshane
First, I think foreign-TLD sites are still what they mean by "foreign sites".
This is significant when you consider that domestic-TLD sites are already in
US jurisdiction even though the server may be foreign.

Secondly, saying "no American company will be affected" is exactly the kind of
generalization required when talking in soundbites (what is required when
talking on TV). You can call it a lie, but only if you acknowledge that nearly
everyone on TV lies.

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RichardPrice
It damages credibility if you say categorically that no American company could
be targeted by SOPA, when in fact they could be. It erodes the sense that
viewers should believe the rest of what you say. Richard Cotton also mentioned
that due process will be respected, and only sites that are wholesale engaged
in piracy will be affected. When people are loose with language, you wonder
what the precise situation actually is, and it muddies the debate.

Few people have a subtle understanding of what SOPA actually entails (I still
don't understand all the details), and this is because the proponents say
'We're targeting thieves' and the opponents say 'This will break the
internet', and sometimes a reader gets the sense that no-one is communicating
the precise, un-dramatized, facts. If the reader doesn't feel they have these
facts, it's difficult to draw your own conclusions.

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BiosElement
This isn't exactly news, they're still liars.

