MPAA's Dodd backs Internet freedom text in GOP platform

Former Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.), now the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), on Wednesday endorsed the stance Republicans took on intellectual property and Internet freedom in their official party platform.

The MPAA is one of the most vocal advocates for copyright enforcement in Washington and has rallied for Congress to adopt anti-piracy legislation. The trade lobby has said its studio members have seen their bottom lines battered by websites that offer pirated copies of their films, often when they're still being played in movie theaters.

“The Republican Party platform language strikes a very smart balance: It emphasizes the importance of us doing more as a nation to protect our intellectual property from online theft while underscoring the critical importance of protecting Internet freedom," Dodd said in a statement. "As the party points out, the Internet has been for its entire existence a source of innovation, and it is intellectual property that helps drive that innovation."

The GOP approved its party platform on Tuesday at its convention in Tampa, Fla. The platform included strong language that singled out China for violating American copyrights and also called for punishments to be levied against foreign firms that violate intellectual property.

"Our serious trade disputes, especially China’s failure to enforce international standards for the protection of intellectual property and copyrights, as well as its manipulation of its currency, call for a firm response from a new Republican administration," the platform said.

It also included a plank vowing to protect Internet freedom, praising its rapid growth and independence from government regulation. Dodd said he agreed "wholeheartedly with my friends in the Republican Party that we must protect the free flow of information on the Internet while also protecting American innovators."

"It is imperative to our national economy and our national identity that we protect an Internet that works for everyone,” the MPAA chief said.

The MPAA and other entertainment lobbies were pelted with criticism earlier this year from Web companies and Internet activists for their support of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which critics said would threaten free speech on the Web and block people's access to certain websites. Demand Progress and other advocacy groups had encouraged both parties to adopt some sort of Internet freedom language to avoid a future sequel to the SOPA.