sopa/pipa: content creator's opinion

Back in November, I wrote about supporting an upcoming novel called The Beauty of Our Weapons. I got my pre-release copy (I like it; I'll post a review and link when it's available for sale), but I'm posting this because I took the opportunity to ask the author, Darusha Wehm, about her take on the SOPA and PIPA bills. Here's part of her response, reproduced with her permission:

I took my sites down yesterday as a protest against SOPA/PIPA and I've signed a petition from non-US citizens to the State Department about it.

I've never seen any reliable information regarding actual losses in sales due to piracy and I know for sure that the more readers I get (however they got a hold of my work) the better off I am as an author.

Regardless, I don't think that SOPA/PIPA actually do much against real piracy and are instead very dangerous for free speech and national sovereignty - from what I understand they are particularly geared toward sites that are not governed by US law. It's disturbing to me as a citizen of other countries that a foreign state is trying to compel me legally.

I could go on. The short answer is that as a content creator I'm against S&P because a) the online piracy threat is not real (unlike the maritime piracy threat which is real and deadly and no one cares) and b) because of the chilling effect these laws would have on me and everyone else who wants to express themselves online.

I would not presume to say that she speaks for all content creators, or all independent content creators, or anyone but herself. Nonetheless, at lest one content creator who generates cash from her content is pretty clearly anti-PIPA/SOPA. (And the "maritime piracy" issue has meaning to her because she lives on a ship, and travels.)