SOPA

SOPA, controversial bill online piracy gets support, lobbying intensified

Some lawmakers have expressed support for a controversial media bill aimed at stopping Internet piracy, as lobbying on this issue reached its climax. In the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill, proposed by Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), a bipartisan group of legislators said the new laws are needed to help the media, software vendors and retailers to combat the illicit proliferation of movies, songs and software software.

 

Stop Internet Piracy Law Smith, aimed at foreign sites devoted to pirated material, and Web giants like Google and Facebook and telecommunications company said that its proposal goes too far, making them responsible for the closure of the bad actors. "The problem of fraudulent Web sites is real, immediate and widespread. This harms all sectors of the economy," Smith said during the hearing. Some lawmakers have expressed concern that the illegal sharing of copyrighted movies, software and music drains the U.S. media company, and that current laws do not provide enough enforcement power to stop bad actors. And some questioned the motives of the web giants fighting the legislation. The opposition is "really about the bottom line," said Rep. Mel Watt (DN.C.). "Sites that specialize in fencing to attract many users and a lot of advertising." Supporters and critics of the measure have increased their lobbying efforts on the eve of the hearing.

Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other Web giants began to blitz the media on Wednesday with a full-page newspaper ads urged lawmakers to vote against the proposal. Vague wording in the bill will make them shut down the domain name in violation of site and lead to lawsuits, they said. Telecommunications companies, including Verizon Communications, complained that the bill will force them to stop Internet traffic, which contained illegal material. Supporters of the legislation, ranging from Hollywood studios for pharmaceutical companies, argued during the hearing that they lose about $ 135 billion a year in pirated material. "Basically, we are talking about jobs," said Michael OLiri, representing the Motion Picture Association of America on hearing. He argued that not only the actors and producers suffer, piracy also has ripple effect on thousands of businesses that are associated with the movie. Smith said he hopes to move its legislation to mark the end of the year. A similar bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in September.

House proposal emerged suddenly, according to critics, and without the advice of high-tech and telecommunications companies. "Inexplicably, almost overnight, turned into a full-Sopot on assault on the legitimate Internet companies in the U.S.," said Mark S. Erickson, executive director of NetCoalition, a group representing companies and web public interest groups as opposed to the law. "It makes no sense for us, and will not be that millions of Internet users who depend on this communication, trade and democracy." Verizon executive said in an interview Wednesday that the law puts too much burden on internet service providers to create new technologies to monitor and stop the illegal use of consumer web content. "We have a number of problems with the bill," said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the weak nature of the legislative push. "And we were cut off from the process of writing this, even if it is a very technical and requires us to use a number of technically difficult things to ensure the implementation of this legislation."