The US Postal Office is not responsible for verifying the legality of what people put into the packages they ship, so why should the Web?
— Thomas Baekdal (@baekdal) January 9, 2012
Imagine if a SOPA-like bill was passed for the physical world rather than the web.
Let’s say someone sends an illegal item (drugs, weapons-grade uranium, kittens) through UPS. You’re not supposed to, but it probably happens all the time.
Someone discovers this tragic misdeed and files a complaint. Or, potentially, someone makes a mistake and thinks you shipped something illegally. They file the complaint anyway.
The government confiscates all the UPS vehicles, seizes the distribution centers and blocks all traffic to the buildings. After all that’s settled, the CEO is sent a letter announcing that someone filed a complaint, their business has been destroyed, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
That’s what SOPA will do to the internet.
Edit: Chris (@cammerman) makes an important point:
@baekdal @tomhenrich Well one crucial difference is that the USPS can only deliver 1 package to 1 person. 1 web page can go to 7 billions.
— Chris Ammerman (@cammerman) January 9, 2012
It’s true that the scale is monumentally different, but I think the analogy can still hold up, especially when you consider @baekdal’s original question.