Several lawmakers expressed support Wednesday for a controversial bill aimed at curbing online piracy as lobbying over the issue reached a fever pitch.In a House Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill proposed by committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), a bipartisan group of lawmakers said new laws are needed to help media outlets, software makers and retailers fight the illegal distribution of movies, songs and software.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/online-piracy-bill-gains-support-as-lobbying-intensifies/2011/11/16/gIQAX16VSN_story.htmlAlso see:Opinion: US State Department not for internet freedom – The SOPA bill will help private companies cut off internet sites only to protect their profits.
The US State Department is once again undermining its own Internet Freedom Initiative – this time by giving the green light to a copyright bill that will adversely affect online free speech around the world.The Stop Internet Piracy (SOPA) was introduced in the House of Representatives two weeks ago, and while it does very little to stop piracy, it gives corporations unprecedented power to censor almost any site on the internet. And more vitally, it threatens the very sites and human rights activists that the State Department has previously pledged to protect.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111116141248301243.htmlSOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) debate: Why are Google and Facebook against it?
Big names from Silicon Valley went head-to-head with media giants at a House hearing Wednesday on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which would punish companies for posting pirated content online.Several lawmakers at the hearing said they supported the legislation, introduced last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), which was originally aimed at shutting down foreign sites that posted intellectual property created by U.S. firms.But critics say it goes too far.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/sopa-stop-online-piracy-act-debate-why-are-google-and-facebook-against-it/2011/11/17/gIQAvLubVN_story.htmlStrange bedfellows: Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul join SOPA opposition
We’ve already written about the wide variety of groups outside of Congress, including legal scholars, high-tech investors, and network engineers, that oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate counterpart, the PROTECT IP Act. More recently, we’ve seen growing opposition within Congress itself. The latest SOPA opponent: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/strange-bedfellows-nancy-pelosi-ron-paul-join-sopa-opposition.arsHouse Judiciary To Mark Up Online Piracy Bill By Year’s End
House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Thursday that he is planning to mark up controversial legislation before the end of the year that would crack down on piracy and counterfeiting on foreign websites.
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2011/11/house-judiciary-to-mark-up-onl.php
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