The Republicans found out that the computing hardware and software industry is economically significant, whereas the so-called premium content industry is not.

The Republicans found out that the computing hardware and software industry is economically significant, whereas the so-called premium content industry is not. I quote from http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/sssca3.html http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/sssca3.html "According to the RIAA, the value of all CD's, live presentations, music videos, dvds in 1998 (from http://www.riaa.com/pdf/md_riaa10yr.pdf http://www.riaa.com/pdf/md_riaa10yr.pdf) was 13.72 billion US$. According to the SOI, in 1998 the business receipts of the computer and electronic product manufacturing including both hardware and software (they do not divide it further) was 560.27 billion US$. This of course excludes the value of all the data stored on computers." Also, Silicon Valley's business model depends on public trust of the cloud. As David K. Levine points out, SOPA/PIPA undermines public trust in the cloud, so Silicon Valley was right to oppose it. The choice is between supporting an industry in decline that turns to government for protection from competition, versus supporting a dynamic industry where the incentive is to grow businesses.