Difference between revisions of "Stop Online Piracy Act"
(→Sponsors of the bill: Notice how four out of the five congressmen who have withdrawn their sponsorship are Republicans) |
(→Supporters: prioritize the sponsors better) |
||
| Line 50: | Line 50: | ||
==Supporters== | ==Supporters== | ||
| − | + | The primary supporters of the bill are [[Hollywood]] (including its trade association, [[MPAA]], which is led by former [[Democrat]] [[U.S. Senator]] [[Chris Dodd]]) and the music industry (led by its trade group, the [[Recording Industry Association of America]]. Other supporters include include [[television]] companies, and [[Viacom]]. Less important supporters are [[Nike]], the U.S. [[Chamber of Commerce]], the [[Fraternal Order of Police]], the [[National Association of Governors]], the [[Better Business Bureau]]. | |
==Critics== | ==Critics== | ||
Revision as of 06:41, January 20, 2012
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) (also known as the E-PARASITE Act, House Bill 3261, or H.R. 3261) is a bill currently being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives that was demanded by Hollywood liberals who are big supporters of the Democrat Party and Obama's reelection efforts. If passed, this bill would impose a number of controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the internet. The Attorney General would be able to close down websites that infringe copyrights, and ban the site from online payment mechanisms such as PayPal and Visa. He could also prohibit the sites' online advertising, and disable Google from ranking and linking to infringing sites.
The corresponding Senate bill, deceptively named by Democrat leadership as the PROTECT IP Act, is being pushed through the Democratic Senate by Harry Reid (D-NV), whom liberals helped reelect in 2010.
SOPA was introduced by a moderate Republican in the House, Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX).[1][2]
Former Democratic Senator Chris Dodd -- now chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America -- is a leading advocate of the bill and criticized the website blackout that occurred on Jan. 18 as a "gimmick":[3]
| “ | designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. | ” |
Proponents of the bill claim that it exists to protect the intellectual properties, and revenue of copyright holders, and is necessary to enforce copyright laws in the US. However, opponents state that it violates the First Amendment, that it will cripple and ultimately destroy the Internet, and will threaten online free speech. Some critics have likened this bill to China's Great Firewall.
If one were to use copyrighted music on YouTube ten times, this person would receive a five year prison sentence, causing unnecessary arrests of people even including children using the music for amateur videos, to "protect" big-name artists from copyright infringement.
Sponsors of the bill
Notice how four out of the five congressmen who have withdrawn their sponsorship are Republicans:
- Mark Amodei [R-NV2]
- Joe Baca [D-CA43]
- John Barrow [D-GA12]
- Karen Bass [D-CA33]
- Howard Berman (D-CA)
- Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)
- John Carter [R-TX31]
- Steve Chabot (R-OH)
- Judy Chu [D-CA32]
- Jim Cooper [D-TN5]
- John Conyers (D-MI)
- Tim Holden [D-PA17] - no longer supports
- Ted Deutch (D-FL)
- Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Timothy Griffin (R-AR) - no longer supports
- Peter T. King [R-NY3]
- John Larson [D-CT1]
- Ben R. Luján [D-NM3]
- Thomas Marino [R-PA10]
- Alan Nunnelee [R-MS1]
- Bill Owens [D-NY23]
- Ben Quayle [R-AZ3] - no longer supports
- Dennis A. Ross (R-FL) - no longer supports
- Steve Scalise [R-LA1]
- Brad Sherman [D-CA27]
- Adam Schiff (D-CA)
- Lee Terry (R-NE) - no longer supports
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL20]
- Melvin Watt [D-NC12]
Supporters
The primary supporters of the bill are Hollywood (including its trade association, MPAA, which is led by former Democrat U.S. Senator Chris Dodd) and the music industry (led by its trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America. Other supporters include include television companies, and Viacom. Less important supporters are Nike, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Governors, the Better Business Bureau.
Critics
Among the many critics of the bill are Conservapedia, ConservativeNewsAndViews.com, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, Mozilla, the creators of Firefox, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Ron Paul, who is a candidate in the 2012 GOP presidential primaries, and Rep. Darrell Issa.
The Obama Administration released a statement which read, in part, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet. Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small."[4] In political terms, such a statement means that the politician may sign the bad bill but then claim it does not harm anything. The administration has also released a statement implying that it will veto the legislation should it reach the president's desk.
