In case you're still unclear about the U.S. Congress's hapless SOPA legislation that went down in flames earlier this month, the Matador Network sums it up neatly with this angry infographic.

Once you've read this infographic about SOPA, you might become angry, too. That's because when you see the series of technological events that has led up to the present day, you'll start realizing that almost every innovation that came along has been seen by the motion picture industry as a threat to its existence.

Even more importantly, Hollywood has forgotten about how all that tech helped its industry, and has also forgotten the un-American activities blacklist that plagued Hollywood in the 1950s. Unfortunately, SOPA or legislation like it such as the ACTA (that's even more dangerous) could have a similar effect, serving as an Internet blacklist.

Despite the studio executives' awful record of predicting the outcome of tech innovation, new technologies have consistently helped the motion picture industry. The infographic will show you the details of the arm-twisting of movie studios and their political cronies, forever fighting the technology that ends up helping them. At the same time, the studios do their best to influence the political landscape to fulfill their desire for profits and power, regardless of what's best for their customers.

What do you think of the movie studios' efforts to stand in the way of progress? Let us know in the comments.











Infographic courtesy Matador Network, via Boing Boing

