I really enjoyed reading this perspective. It reminds me of something Feynman described (can't find the link), wherein some military general asked scientists to develop a tank which would convert rocks and sand into fuel as it drove across the terrain. And Babbage before that - "I cannot comprehend the confusion of ideas..."

If we want to frame SOPA in the context of these kinds of incidents, one optimistic view would be that, as has happened in the past, science - if we can agree that determining whether or not a copyrighted work is stolen - will prevail.