| SOPA & PIPA – Likely More To Come |
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| Thursday, January 19 2012 |
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By now, everyone has heard the news: any immediate action on SOPA and PIPA has been postponed indefinitely. While this is certainly good news, it is by no means the end. The Internet’s January 18th “blackout” day, which NVCA participated in, was a key factor in bringing this issue to the attention of lawmakers in the House and Senate. Coupled with the media onslaught that SOPA and PIPA received during the congressional recess, it was enough to give lawmakers reason to pause and withdraw support for the anti-piracy legislation. NVCA met with congressional offices in the days and weeks leading up to the decision to postpone consideration of SOPA and PIPA and the resounding request from congressional offices was a plea to come back to the table with something that doesn’t harm innovation but effectively halts the piracy and counterfeiting that is robbing content providers of their intellectual property. To be sure, there is not a quick remedy or fix in sight. However, House Judiciary chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) are not simply going to give up. This issue is sure to be resurrected again and again until some compromise is reached, and it is incumbent on us to be part of that negotiation going forward. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), who is the chairman of the House Internet Caucus, and a SOPA co-sponsor, is convening a working group of interested parties to work on finding a middle ground. NVCA has reached out to Goodlatte to be part of that working group. There is alternate legislation that has been introduced that aims to curb piracy with a “follow-the-money” approach to going after abuses of rouge websites. House Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act, known as the OPEN Act. This approach would allow content owners to bring complaints to the Internal Trade Commission (ITC) who could authorize advertisers and payment processors to stop doing business with foreign websites that are offering pirated content and counterfeit goods. This approach is less draconian than the “private right of action” provisions in SOPA and PIPA which would allow copyright and trademark owners to serve take-down notices with a few days warning based on mere allegations of piracy. But so far, the content providers have not embraced the OPEN Act. We have closed the most recent chapter on SOPA and PIPA, but there’s more to come. NVCA will continue to meet with lawmakers on the SOPA PIPA issue and has convened a subgroup of members to work more closely on this issue and try to find solutions to the most problematic sections of the bills. NVCA members will also be called on to come to DC and meet with House and Senate offices on this important matter. Even though the White House released a statement expressing concerns about SOPA and PIPA, during the State of the Union President Obama made reference to the billions of dollars that are being lost and the jobs that are jeopardized by internet piracy.
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