Article by Jason Drew

According to Dean McClean’s article in CNet this week, Hollywood’s lobbyists have launched

a new anti-piracy measure Washington that will “face strong opposition from Internet

companies and users who worry it goes too far and jeopardizes free speech rights,” McClean

writes.

A dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives have announced they’ve jointly

introduced a new bill intended to make allegedly copyright-infringing Web sites, sometimes

called “rogue” Web sites, virtually disappear from the Internet.

The bill, called the Stop Online Piracy Act -although because the sponsors dubbed the Web-

blocking portions the “E-PARASITE Act,” it’s likely to become known by either name, or

both–represents a long-anticipated escalation by major copyright holders to curb online

piracy and counterfeit goods via the law.

In theory, the bill includes online movies, movies downloaded from so-called pirate sites

and other artistic content.

Rep. Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who heads the House Judiciary committee, said the

measure will help “stop the flow of revenue to rogue Web sites and ensures that the profits

from American innovations go to American innovators.”

McClean writes “It’s a bipartisan effort–in fact, given Hollywood’s close relationship

with the Democratic Party, Dems are likely to be the most enthusiastic supporters. He says

Rep. Howard Berman, a Democrat whose district is adjacent to Hollywood, Calif., called the

Stop Online Piracy Act an “important next step in the fight against digital theft.”

An earlier version of the bill, which a Senate committee approved in May, was broadly

supported by film and music industry companies. But civil liberties groups were

steadfastly opposed; so were trade associations representing Web companies. Google chairman

Eric Schmidt was even more critical , as were prominent venture capitalists.

Because the Stop Online Piracy Act is 79 pages long and amends existing law in subtle ways,

it will take some time to analyze how it differs from the PROTECT IP Act, which earlier

introduced the notion of an Internet “death penalty.”

That measure sought to give the U.S. Department of Justice the power to seek a court order

against an allegedly infringing Web site, and then serve that order on search engines,

certain Domain Name System (DNS) providers, and Internet advertising firms. Those

organizations, in turn, would be required to make the target site effectively “invisible”

to Web users.

Corynne McSherry, intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation,

said her group was still reviewing the proposal.

“One thing is clear: Big Media is doing its best to accomplish in Washington what it

couldn’t in court,” McSherry told CNET. “Supporters of the measure,” writes McClean, “want

to eliminate legal safe harbors that have made possible an explosion of economic growth,

innovation, and creativity. And, it is not a little ironic that a bill that proposing

massive interference with the Internet ecosystem is being introduced just as human rights

advocates from around the world are meeting in Silicon Valley to talk about the problem of

internet censorship.”

Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which counts eBay,

Facebook, Google, and Yahoo as members, said the bill was “akin to trying to block phones

calls by ripping a page from a phone book.”

But EFF, CCIA, and their allies including the Public Knowledge advocacy group are

outnumbered and, probably, will be outspent. Far more groups have thrown their support

behind the measure, and its congressional sponsors include the influential heads of the

relevant committees.

The National Music Publishers’ Association called it an “important bill.” The U.S. Chamber

of Commerce applauded the politicians who introduced it today for “standing up to the mass

theft of American intellectual property.”

The Motion Picture Association of America joined a dizzying array of organizations touting

the bill as a way to save U.S. jobs. The list included the American Federation of

Musicians, the Directors Guild of America, the International Brotherhood of Teamstthe Screen Actors Guild.

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