Epic: "We do not support the current version of SOPA"

Unreal Engine developer Epic does not support the Stop Online Piracy Act, and last night publicly declared its position on the controversial bill.

Dana Cowley, senior PR manager, shared the information on the company's official forum.

"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," she stated.

"Thus, we do not support the current version of SOPA."

Cowley added that Epic is part of the the ESA, a trade organisation that supports SOPA and which she described as "working with legislators to refine the bill."

The bill is controversial as, while designed to allow copyright holders to shut down sites hosting torrents or pirated material, the extent of its reach and the power it would give those copyright holders has led some to argue that it would actually violate the First Amendment.

Sony and Nintendo recently removed their company names from a list of supporters, while EA has made clear that while it supports the theory behind the bill, it does agree with the current version.

A number of prominent tech companies such as Google, Yahoo! and Facebook have expressed opposition to SOPA, and anarchist group Anonymous recently threatened Sony for its apparent support of the bill.