Today I’m in solidarity with Web publishers everywhere joining the fight against new laws that are bad for business — and everything else — on the Internet.

I made my case in If you hate big government, fight SOPA. A vigorous dialog followed in the comments under that. Here’s the opening paragraph:

Nobody who opposes Big Government and favors degregulation should favor the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA, or H.R. 3261. It’s a big new can of worms that will cripple use of the Net, slow innovation on it, clog the courts with lawsuits, employ litigators in perpetuity and deliver copyright maximalists in the “content” business a hollow victory for the ages.

I also said this:

SOPA is a test for principle for members of Congress. If you wish to save the Internet, vote against it. If you wish to fight Big Government, vote against it. If you wish to protect friends in the “content” production and distribution business at extreme cost to every other business in the world, vote for it. If you care more about a few businesses you can name and nothing about all the rest of them — which will be whiplashed by the unintended consequences of a bill that limits what can be done on the Internet while not comprehending the Internet at all — vote for it.

This is the pro-business case. There are other cases, but I don’t see many people making the pure business one, so that’s why I took the business angle.

The best summary case I’ve read since then is this one from the EFF.

The best detailed legal case (for and against) is A close look at the Stop Online Piracy Act bill, by Jonathan @Zittrain. The original, from early December, is here.

Not finally, here are a pile of links from Zemanta:

• SOPA and PIPA: learn more  wikipedia.org)
• ‘Retreats’ Delay SOPA Hearings To February [Blip]  kotaku.com)
• Microsoft says it opposes SOPA ‘as currently drafted’, no other action planned  thenextweb.com)
• Tech Gopher Supports STOP SOPA – Going Black on Wednesday  techgopher.wordpress.com)
• On the Street: Do You Understand SOPA? [VIDEO]  mashable.com)
• Big Media Caught In Blackout On S.O.P.A.  thenewworldreporter.com)
• STOP SOPA! Keep Uncle Sam’s Hands Off Our Internet  joetech.com)
• MAKE Goes Dark in Protest to SOPA/PIPA  makezine.com)
• SOPA vs. PIPA: Anti-piracy bills, uproar explained  digitaltrends.com)
• WebHostingBuzz to Blackout on January 18th in Protest of SOPA and PIPA  prweb.com)
• SOPA Opera: White House Shuts Down Proposed Online Anti-Piracy Bill  scientificamerican.com)
• Could Facebook Shut Down? Understanding SOPA and PIPA  blogworld.com)
• Google SOPA Protest of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
• With SOPA In The News: Marketers Are Going Back To School On Fair Use  prweb.com)
• Rhizome Joins Jan 18 Internet Blackout to Raise Awareness of PIPA/SOPA  rhizome.org)
• EFF: How PIPA/SOPA Fail the Administration’s Test  ammori.org)
• What Is SOPA? Startup Offers One-on-One Tutorials  mashable.com)
• SOPA: The Internet Blacklist Bill [Infographic] – [Video]  techfleece.com)
• Organize to resist SOPA in DC  xaprb.com)
• SOPA, PIPA and bills like them want to kill this blog. And yours.  thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com)
• SOPA Resistance Day begins at Ars  arstechnica.com)
• Google SOPA protest  venturebeat.com)
• reblog: If you hate Big Government, fight SOPA. (bostjan.konstrukt.it)
• Don’t censor the web  googleblog.blogspot.com)
• Major Media Blackout to Protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)  alternet.org)
• Web Hosting Firm, GreenHostIt.com Denounces SOPA  prweb.com)
• SOPA Blackout Day  snarkinthenfl.blogspot.com)
• SOPA, PIPA and bills like them want to kill this blog. And yours.  thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com)
• SOPA Resistance Day begins at Ars  arstechnica.com)
• Google SOPA protest  venturebeat.com)
• reblog: If you hate Big Government, fight SOPA. (bostjan.konstrukt.it)
• Don’t censor the web  googleblog.blogspot.com)
• Major Media Blackout to Protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)  alternet.org)
• Web Hosting Firm, GreenHostIt.com Denounces SOPA  prweb.com)
• SOPA Blackout Day  snarkinthenfl.blogspot.com)
• The Berkman Community Responds to SOPA/PIPA  cyber.law.harvard.edu)
• Why SOPA and PIPA Matter More Today Than They Did Yesterday  blogworld.com)
• Proof we do not need SOPA. – Tea Party Nation  gds44.wordpress.com)
• If you hate Big Government, fight SOPA.  blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Stop Sopa (downtownlocal.me)
• Want to STOP SOPA / STOP PIPA? Use these tools and be involved.  momfy.wordpress.com)
• SOPA and PIPA from the Eastern world  russianreport.wordpress.com)
• Why SOPA and PIPA Matter More Today Than They Did Yesterday  blogworld.com)
• Proof we do not need SOPA. – Tea Party Nation  gds44.wordpress.com)
• If you hate Big Government, fight SOPA.  blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Stop Sopa (downtownlocal.me)
• Want to STOP SOPA / STOP PIPA? Use these tools and be involved.  momfy.wordpress.com)
• SOPA and PIPA from the Eastern world  russianreport.wordpress.com)

Oh, and the U.S. Supreme Court just make it cool for any former copyright holder to pull their free’d works out of the public domain. The vote was 6-2, with Kagan recused and Breyer and Alito dissenting. Lyle Denniston in the SCOTUS blog:

In a historic ruling on Congress’s power to give authors and composers monopoly power over their creations, the Supreme Court on Tuesday broadly upheld the national legislature’s authority to withdraw works from the public domain and put them back under a copyright shield.   While the ruling at several points stressed that it was a narrow embrace of Congress’s authority simply to harmonize U.S. law with the practice of other nations, the decision’s treatment of works that had entered the public domain in the U.S. was a far more sweeping outcome.

No one, the Court said flatly, obtains any personal right under the Constitution to copy or perform a work just because it has come out from under earlier copyright protection, so no one can object if copyright is later restored.  Any legal rights that exist belong only to the author or composer, the ruling said.  If anyone wants to resume the use or performance of a work after it regains copyright, they must pay for the privilege, the decision made clear.

IMHO, the U.S. has become devoutly propertarian, even at the expense of opportunity to create fresh property from borrowed and remixed works in the public domain. One more way the public domain, and its friendliness to markets, is widely misunderstood.