Top execs at the SOPA-promoting RIAA said over and over that the process of addressing alleged copyright infringements would be open and fair, not the secret-accusations-in-a-back-room affair most SOPA opponents imagined it would be.

All opponents had to go on was the language in the act, which described a process in which those claiming to own copyrights could make accusations to law enforcement agencies, which would go enforce the law without having to validate that the accusations were true or that the accuser actually owned the copyright.

That's all silly politics, right? Propaganda. Hating from the pro, hating from the con.

The process would be ruled by the U.S. legal system, so enforcement would not be random, mysterious, unexplained or capricious. Right?

Apropos of nothing, JotForm is back online.

I strongly agree with the sentiment of this editorial - the Jotform shutdown is a major problem. The US Government arbitrarily shut down a legitimate website without due process of law. This is a fundamental threat to the integrity of the Internet and to freedom of expression online. Furthermore, this shutdown demonstrates EXACTLY the sort of scenario that SOPA envisioned.

Here is the really scary thing - SOPA was about foreign sites - the Jotform takedown demonstrates that the US Government already believes that it can exercise SOPA-like authority over domestic sites.

If you were angry about SOPA, you ought to be livid about this. Unlike ACTA and the Cybersecurity treaty and all the other stuff that pundits have floated as "the next SOPA" this really is the next SOPA. And its already here.