The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), HR 3261, a bill introduced in the US House of Representatives October 26, 2011, expands the ability of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and copyright holders to stop online piracy of copyrighted intellectual property and the sales of counterfeit goods by blocking both access and revenue for web sites deemed complicit in such actions. The House Judiciary Committee resumes its review of this bill January 17th.
The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP Act or PIPA), Senate Bill S.968, introduced May 12, 2011, is essentially the same bill as the House one. It is further along in the Congressional process, having been released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 17th. It will be up before the full Senate for a cloture vote on January 24th.
As an alternative to SOPA and PIPA, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN Act), S.2029, was introduced to the Senate on December 17, 2011. The main differences from SOPA and PIPA are that the US International Trade Commission rather than the DOJ is designated as the enforcement body and the focus is on blocking the money flow to foreign websites rather than blocking access to those sites within the US. The OPEN Act is now sitting with the Senate Finance committee for review beginning in late January.
All three bills are intended to combat trademark and copyright infringement. Supporters of SOPA and PIPA claim the target is foreign websites that pirate US products, whether hard-goods or digital. Supporters are companies in the publishing, movie, software, music and entertainment industries and companies whose goods are commonly counterfeited: Sony, Random House, Revlon, NBC Universal, Electronic Arts, and Time Warner, among many others. Supporters claim that direct action is required against these pirate web sites in order to stop the flow into the US of counterfeit items and illegal digital copies of software, movies and music.
Opponents of the SOPA/PIPA bills include major Web-presence companies, such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, eBay and the Wikimedia Foundation, and major human rights groups, such as the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Their claim is that the implementation of SOPA and/or PIPA will harm the Internet and impede the legal operations of legitimate US companies. One further claim is that SOPA and PIPA will not stop pirate sites, which, if closed down, will merely open up under a new web address within a few hours.
Commented by: Richard, 12 January, 2012
SOPA... I don't like. At all.