Kaspersky is standing with the Internet public and tech giants in opposing the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act by withdrawing from the anti-piracy lobby group, the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
Kaspersky is one of Russia's largest tech companies, and produces a well respected Internet security product that is used by millions around the world.
The BSA gave its supports to SOPA back in October, but a statement by Kaspersky says the company will withdraw from the BSA at the beginning of next year to show the public that it does not support SOPA.
"We believe that such measures will be used contrary to the modern advances in technology and the needs of consumers," explained Kaspersky.
Interestingly, the BSA itself has softened its support for SOPA in the last few weeks, with a blog post questioning aspects of the bill, including the opinion that it may in fact be overreaching as "it could sweep in more than just truly egregious actors", while the BSA again iterated its opposition to "filtering or monitoring the Internet".
It is thought that Kaspersky's actions may also be to support fellow Russian IT companies, such as VKontakte, Russia's Facebook alternative. The MPAA considers VKontakte a "rogue" site, and if SOPA is passed, it could be one of the first websites to be censored in the United States, despite VKontakte claiming that their copyright problems have been resolved.
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