Epic Games' spokesperson Dana Cowley has made an official post regarding the company's stance on SOPA, with the intention of clarifying where the company stands on the issue.
As you may or may not know, Epic Games is a member of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) which openly supports the Stop Online Piracy Act, that's currently going through congress. In an open letter (PDF) to congress, the trade organization urged representatives to pass the bill.
The ESA and many companies belonging to the organization have since taken a lot of flak for their support of the bill, and rightly so.
Epic Games is the first company to make an official statement about where they stand. It reads as follows:
Epic Games supports efforts that would stop overseas websites profiting from pirating our games, but we have to do that in a way that's compatible with freedom of speech and due process of law.
Thus, we do not support the current version of SOPA.
We are members of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a trade organization that is working with legislators to refine the bill.
Efforts to refine the SOPA bill into something palateable by Rep. Darrell Issa have been unsuccessful thus far, as almost each and every proposal has been shot down by popular vote in the House of Representatives lead by Chairman Lamar Smith. It remains to be seen whether any real change can be affected in the future.
As it is, the current version of SOPA infringes on the freedom of speech and due process. If Epic Games wants to be taken seriously on the matter, they must either withdraw their support for the bill and lobby the ESA to change its official stance on SOPA, because as it is—they are still officially in support of the bill. Anything less is simply lip service.
