Another game company spoke out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) currently under consideration by Congress. League of Legends creators Riot Games believes that SOPA and its Senate equivalent, the "Protect IP Act," are "misguided" and could hurt their players.
"Riot Games is opposed to SOPA/PIPA in their present form," said Riot CEO Brandon Beck in a post on the game's official forums. "While we do support efforts to prevent online piracy, the current form of this legislation comes at far too high a cost for us, our players, and online communities across the internet."
Beck also described the harm that SOPA could cause the average LoL player. For starters, a player who plays copyrighted music while streaming a match could cause the entire streaming service to be taken down, or be threatened with criminal penalties. Services like YouTube and DeviantArt used to share League-related fan content could also be threatened. LoL's in-game chat or forums may be at risk as well. These concerns are in addition to the larger free speech or security infrastructure issues that SOPA raises.
For a more complete summary of the dangers of SOPA, read this editorial from Cinema Blend honcho Josh Tyler. To sum up: SOPA allows copyright holders to take down websites that they think are violating their copyrights without proof. This could prove catastrophic to the websites in question. Obviously, we're not big fans.
If you'd like to speak out against the legislation, head to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website. They've got an online form that easily allows you to send a letter to your representatives in the House and Senate.
