|
 |
 |
|
Liberal Dem says piracy bill would be Patriot Act for the Internet
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would be like applying the Patriot Act to private Internet companies in a speech on the House floor Wednesday.
"This legislation ... the fact that we are essentially creating the Patriot Act national security letter provisions for private companies to censor the Internet. We cannot let that happen," DeFazio said. "We must stop this legislation."
The Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, expanded the government's domestic spying powers.
SOPA and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act, are designed to go after foreign websites that offer illegal copies of movies, music and TV shows.
Dozens of lawmakers backpedalled from the piracy bills on Wednesday after thousands of websites, including Wikipedia, Google and reddit, protested the legislation with blackouts and statements directing users to contact Congress.
The bills would empower the Justice Department and copyright holders to demand that search engines delete links to sites deemed to be “dedicated” to copyright infringement. Ad networks and payment processors would be prohibited from doing business with the sites.
Movie studios, record labels and business groups say the legislation would cut down on illegal file sharing, which is hurting companies and eliminating jobs.
But Web companies warn the bills would stifle innovation and censor free speech. They say the legislation would impose an unreasonable burden on websites to police user-generated content and could lead to legitimate websites getting shut down.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the bill's sponsor, says his measure would not affect legal sites and would not lead to censorship.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will bring the Protect IP Act to a vote on Tuesday. Smith plans to push ahead with SOPA next month.
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
