This January, the U.S. Congress will conduct hearings on two controversial bills that are intended to combat online piracy of video and audio recordings. The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to resume markup sessions on H.R. 3261, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA), when Congress returns from the holiday recess. (The Committee held a two-day marathon session in December to debate a second version of the bill, Republican Committee Chairman Lamar Smith’s Manager’s Amendment). In addition, the U.S. Senate is expected to conduct hearings later in January on a companion bill, S.968, the “PROTECT IP Act” (PIPA) (which was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last May).
SOPA and PIPA were written by the influential content lobby that represents Hollywood movie studios and the recording industry. The bills are designed to protect intellectual property rights holders from significant monetary losses by eliminating web users’ access to foreign websites that commit copyright infringements. Websites that stream movies illegally, or that make available free downloads of music, use foreign domains that U.S. authorities cannot legally control. The bills’ enforcement tools have been touted by promoters as offering a better solution in the content industry’s ongoing quest to combat “rogue” sites. (A list of SOPA supporters can be found on the House Judiciary Committee website).
The two bills are opposed by major players in the Internet industry such as Google, Yahoo!, Mozilla, Facebook, Twitter and other Net Coalition members. Other opponents include: industry associations, venture capitalists, Internet engineers, cybersecurity experts, media outlets, first amendment specialists, human rights groups, librarians, and Internet watchdog groups. The Center for Democracy and Technology is posting a growing “List of Those Expressing Concern With SOPA and PIPA” on their website.
After SOPA was announced this past October, several advocacy groups wrote letters to the House Judiciary Committee and other members of Congress. The website of Judiciary Committee Member, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) — one of the most knowledgeable and vocal opponents of the bill–includes a wide-ranging list of “letters of opposition” to SOPA (and to PIPA). These letters focus on a variety of legitimate concerns and the potential for problems that could result from the enactment of the bills’ various provisions.
In November, Net Coalition members sent a letter to House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to explain their opposition to the bills: “We support the bills’ stated goals–providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign “rogue” websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or [trademark] counterfeiting. Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of web sites.
We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation, as well as to our Nation’s cybersecurity. We cannot support these bills as written and ask that you consider more targeted ways to combat foreign “rogue” websites…, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that has made the Internet such an important driver of economic growth and job creation.”
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