Ley "SOPA": una pausa necesaria

El freno momentáneo a la controvertida ley "SOPA" deja al descubierto la complejidad del dilema: cómo luchar contra la piratería sin limitar la circulación de la información y el conocimiento en Internet.

La lluvia de críticas desatada por la llamada ley "SOPA" ("Stop On Line Piracy Act" por sus siglas en inglés) tuvo su primera consecuencia concreta: el Congreso estadounidense ha decidido congelar su tratamiento. La decisión se produjo pocas horas después de la negativa oficial de la Casa Blanca, que ve en ella más riesgos para la libertad de expresión que eficacia en la lucha contra la piratería. La postura del gobierno de Barack Obama parece sintonizar ahora con la de los "gigantes" de Internet, que ya se habían plantado firmemente contra la iniciativa. Y es que Google, Facebook, Twitter y Wikipedia (entre otros) entendieron rápidamente que el proyecto es una respuesta desproporcionada a la piratería y que su aplicación afectará no sólo el volumen de la información que circula por la red, sino también su calidad y accesibilidad. En uno de sus puntos más controvertidos, la ley plantea el bloqueo de cualquier sitio web que contenga enlaces hacia contenidos protegidos por derechos de autor. En términos prácticos, esto significa que sitios tan populares como Yahoo!, Wikipedia y Twitter se verán prácticamente imposibilitados de funcionar. Ni siquiera los motores de búsqueda, incluido Google, estarían exentos de ser "apagados" si incluyen en sus resultados páginas que eventualmente infrinjan los derechos de propiedad intelectual. ¿Y los usuarios? También pueden ser los grandes perdedores puesto que Facebook, Twitter y cualquier otra red social deberán vigilar que cada uno de ellos no comparta enlaces o archivos potencialmente infractores. También Google ofrecerá necesariamente muchos menos resultados y Wikipedia, esa gran construcción colectiva de conocimiento, tendrá prácticamente cortadas las alas: cualquier compañía que alegue violación al copyright a partir de un enlace colocado en sus contenidos podrá pedir que se bloquee el sitio. Los puntos más polémicos Ahora, con la postergación momentánea del debate, es muy probable que la protesta prevista para el miércoles también quede en suspenso. El "día sin Internet", al que habían adherido los sitios web más importantes del mundo, hubiera significado una demostración cabal de la importancia de la red en nuestras vidas: un día con 1000 millones de búsquedas en Google sin concretarse, por ejemplo. Sin embargo, la suspensión del tratamiento legislativo aún no aclara qué pasará con los puntos más controvertidos de la ley. De momento, los republicanos (promotores de la iniciativa) han sugerido suprimir el párrafo que contemplaba el bloqueo a sitios potencialmente infractores del derecho de autor. No obstante, insisten en prohibir a los buscadores el enlace a esos mismos sitios. Otra cuestión nada menor es el bloqueo a las webs que, aunque radicadas en el extranjero, distribuyen contenido que es ilegal en Estados Unidos. El tema es sensible porque su aplicación podría derivar en conflictos con otros países y porque deja flotando el interrogante sobre quiénes son los verdaderos "dueños" de Internet. Más allá del curso que finalmente tome la iniciativa, su freno deja en evidencia el dilema de combatir eficazmente la piratería sin alterar una de las grandes virtudes de Internet: la de servir como espacio libre para intercambiar información y conocimiento. Quizás por eso, esta "pausa" se ha tornado tan inevitable como necesaria.

Konanykhine

Aplicacion

Conocimiento Contemplaba

Contenidos

Controvertidos

Cualquier

Exentos Extranjero

Informacion

Potencialmente Practicamente

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Sopa

Conocimiento En Internet

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Washington Post:
Konanykhin, one of the first Russian millionaires after the fall of the commies, left in 1992 and was granted asylum here in 1999. He's built a very successful Web advertising business in New York City. He had been chosen "New York Businessman of the Year." "As such, you will be honored and presented with your award," NRCC chairman Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.) said, at a "special ceremony" April 1. " President Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are our special invited guests.

CNN:
Alex Konanykhin controlled Russia's largest commercial bank in the 1990s

Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Konanykhin was a whiz-kid physics student who became a pioneering Russian capitalist in early 1990s, building a banking and investment empire valued at an estimated $300 million all by his mid-20s. He was a member of President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle.

The Sun:
Alex Konanykhin fled Russia in 1992 and won asylum in the US after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The entrepreneur had set up 100 different companies in Russia and had an estimated net worth of $300million by the time he was 25. He is regarded as one of the first Russian millionaires after the fall of the Iron Curtain. One of the newly open country's leading lights, he even met with US President George HW Bush in 1991 on a joint visit with Russian leader Boris Yeltsin. However, he was then kidnapped in 1992 while visiting Budapest and all of his business assets were seized in Russia. … Being hunted by the Russian state, Konanykhin won asylum in the US in 1997 and set up a new life - but the shadow of the Kremlin continued to loom over him.He went on to rebuild a business empire and set up multimillion dollar firms such as TransparentBusiness in the US.

The Deal:
... a New York-based software startup called TransparentBusiness Inc. has drawn backing from Fortune 500 executives through a relatively new type of securities offering called 506(c) as part of an effort to raise $10 million this year ... Alex Konanykhin, CEO of TransparentBusiness, said he decided to reach out directly to accredited investors by purchasing ads in financial publications. One particularly bold ad includes the figure, 90,000%, with a question mark next to it. Konanykhin said the ad speaks to the large market opportunity for his company's software, which helps governments eliminate fraud by verifying billable hours charged by outside contractors. ... One of the investors, Ken Arredondo, told The Deal he invested in TransparentBusiness and agreed to serve on its board of directors because of the company's strong management team and the huge market opportunity to increase transparency of outsourced contracts worldwide. He believes in the company's product and said it's unique. "It's a Saas-based, easy-to-use tool," he said. "There are a lot of technology players out there that are a lot bigger, but none of them have what they have. There will be competition, but they have the product now. They have first-mover advantage."

The Baltimore Sun:
Business whiz kid.

WJLA TV / ABC:
Russian Bill Gates.

The Times:
By the time he was 25 he was one of the most important figures in post-Communist Russia. But in 1992, while on a business trip to Hungary, Alex Konanykhine was kidnapped.

The New York Times:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation notified Konanykhin that Russian organized crime figures had paid to have him killed.

Los Angeles Daily Journal:
Representing himself through much of the process, Konanykhin managed to convince an immigration judge of an alleged INS and KGB conspiracy and cover-up. Following the court's admonishment, the INS agreed to drop all charges and also pay $100,000..The judge also ordered an investigation of the Justice Department. In separate actions, Konanykhine subsequently won multimillion dollar libel judgments against two Russian newspapers. A $100 million lawsuit against the Justice Department is pending, alleging perjury, fraud, torture and witness tampering by U.S government officers on behalf of the Russian Mafia.

Profit Magazine:
Imagine you are a teenage physics genius who quickly amasses a $300 million empire of real estate and banking ventures, has dozens of cars, six hundred employees, several mansions and two hundred bodyguards—but you are nonetheless kidnapped by those you trusted, threatened with torture and death, and have your entire empire stolen from you one dark night in Budapest. You escape with your life by racing through Eastern-block countries and flying to New York on stashed-away passports—only to have the KGB and Russian Mafia hell-bent on your hide and the U.S. government jailing you and conspiring to serve you up into their clutches. All this before your 29th birthday. Sound like a Tom Clancy thriller? No. . . just a slice in the life of Alexander Konanykhine.