It would appear that the three largest gaming companies supporting SOPA have quietly retracted their backing. Sony Electronics, Electronic Arts and Nintendo were all listed as supporters of the bill when it first came into being, but their names have since disappeared from the updated document of allies.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Nashville are still listed, but anything related to the company's electronics endeavors have disappeared.
However, all three companies are members of the Entertainment Software Association, a group that still remains aligned to SOPA. Although their individual express support of the bill has been removed, these companies still back it by virtue of their association with the ESA. Until the ESA backs off, these companies are still in. They ostensibly went from backing it twice to backing it once.
While it's great to see that companies are realizing SOPA support looks bad for them, simply hiding that support isn't quite as good as actively removing it. These three companies, along with every single publisher on this list, are still culpable for SOPA, and if they respect their audiences, they'd do well to stop.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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3:00 PM on 12.30.2011
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38 Studios
345 Games
505 Games
Capcom USA, Inc.
Deep Silver
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc.
Eidos Interactive
Electronic Arts
Epic Games, Inc.
Her Interactive, Inc.
Ignition Entertainment
Konami Digital Entertainment
LEVEL-5 Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Natsume Inc.
Nexon America, Inc.
Nintendo of America Inc.
Nival
NVIDIA
O-Games, Inc.
Perfect World Entertainment
SEGA of America, Inc.
Slang
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Sony Online Entertainment, Inc.
Square Enix, Inc.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Tecmo Koei America Corporation
THQ, Inc.
Trion Worlds, Inc.
Ubisoft Entertainment, Inc.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc.
XSEED Games
And those were the three that dropped support in this story, hence them being "picked on" in this article.
And thanks for your very vocal and vehement opposition.
"“The criticism of this bill is completely hypothetical; none of it is based in reality. Not one of the critics was able to point to any language in the bill that would in any way harm the Internet. Their accusations are simply not supported by any facts."
Would someone else PLEASE make a rebuttal? This... this is one of those few comments that is so inane that I can't even think straight.
They are just content creators, and protecting their IP is good for business and good for shareholders.
Look up IP-blocking. The bill would ask isp's to block "allegedly piratical Web site."
You know that whole innocent until proven guilty thing would be gone.
So it would hurt the internet by allowing isp's to shut down site if they "THINK" they are doing something wrong.
I refuse to pay $60 for a game anymore.
The copyright holders appear to be wholly ignorant to the fact that their very anti-piracy measures are often the ultimate catalyst for newer and better ways to pirate.
The others have a good chance to back out entirely, but at the end of the day, EA would still be run by douchebags, they'd just be less douchey than Sony.
In fact, any game studio that is owned by Hollywood won't be backing out.
But Jim Sterling and the Destructoid team are on the case. Fighting the good fight.
That statement was always horribly dumb. ANY criticism of a bill that's not yet put into law is hypothetical because we haven't SEEN it in practice yet. Fuck that prick for trying to weasel out of legit concerns by playing such a ludicrous card.
By his token, any BENEFIT to the bill is hypothetical, too.
sopa is clearly bullshit. however businesses trying to protect its interests are not. sopa is not the right way for them to do this but i guess for now they dont see any other way.
i also find it funny that people hate video game companies so much, seriously do they run your lives or something? like i dont know whats more pathetic being a fanboy or hating on a business that tries to make money and bring us amazing games and hardware.
But what I really want to know is what the balls is the header image?
Why is this even such a big story to you and your fanboys? Do you really want to try and bully these companies the way Anonymous seeks to do to Sony? AGAIN? Why is the timing of the retraction of support for SOPA such a big deal? Okay, a bunch of large scale video game related companies showcased in a bill that they felt could help protect some of their intellectual properties.
And some of them retracted support later than others. Boo-frickedy-hoo.
If you want to get angry at someone, get angry at the people in government; you know, the ones writing and potentially signing the bill into law. If not, then baw me a goddamn river.
Politicians love Jim-jobs.
You do realise this criminalises pretty much the entire internet right? Other people take up this fight not to bully any one company but to make sure to keep their jobs and freedom...
Whats next they are gonna try and create a bill to sue cosplayers for dressing up as a character they created? Hell doess this make that possible? Doess anyone know if SOPA can actually in some backward way be used to go after cosplayers posting pics? Im curious about that or what if im getting my girlfriend to paint a wall in my place so it looks like a scene from mirrors edge and post pics?
Yeah, yeah, guarding microsoft, aren't we?
Do you boycott all consoles and dynasty warriors now? Just asking.
Whats next they are gonna try and create a bill to sue cosplayers for dressing up as a character they created? Hell doess this make that possible? Doess anyone know if SOPA can actually in some backward way be used to go after cosplayers posting pics? Im curious about that or what if im getting my girlfriend to paint a wall in my place so it looks like a scene from mirrors edge and post pics?
@masterninja
Then why is Jim targeting these companies in particular? Because they're connected to another group that apparently supports this? England is an ally to the United States, but just because the US started torturing POW's doesn't mean that England is guilty by association.
If what I read was correct, then SOPA grants any private firm the ability to remove anything off of the internet on grounds of copyright infringement, right? Or is that just one of the things it does? It's not just bad from a freedom standpoint, it will turn the entire internet into a clusterfuck. But that isn't the point here.
I don't support SOPA in the slightest, but I also do not support bullying companies that I support when they have ALREADY taken back their support for a bill like it. Just because they happen to be in support of the ESA does not automatically put them back into the guilty chair. What Jimbo is pulling here is entirely pointless. Riling up his readers to get angry at these companies that IMHO do not deserve our anger. That should be thrown at the government officials creating this bill.
Jimbo is like a kid with a loaded gun waving it about at the wrong perpetrators.
Translation: They Still Support SOPA....