Microsoft, Apple and 27 other tech companies backing SOPA indirectly
Notice that the supporters are software companies and the opposed are Internet companies. Here is a theory I proposed yesterday[1]:<p><i>Microsoft makes the vast majority of their money selling licenses. So does the entertainment industry.</i><p><i>For years these industries (software, music, and video) grew to massive size by exploiting cheap duplication of digital goods and control over distribution channels. Now that further advancing technology has brought duplication and distribution to the masses they are franticly trying to regain control.</i><p><i>The opposing tech companies sell services and advertising. Copyright infringement largely doesn't affect their bottom-line and these proposed measures will be costly for them to implement and legally difficult for them to follow.</i><p>Google's lawyers bringing up the Wikileaks payment processor embargo as a preferred solution also supports this position. Google (and other Internet companies) aren't really trying to protect free speech or other perceived rights, they are merely trying to protect their own interests.<p>1: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3246019" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3246019</a>