Companies and Lobbyists on Both Sides of Web Piracy Bill

November 18, 2011

Corporate Counsel

Brian Glaser

This week, a number of corporations joined in the debate and lobbying over the Stop Online Piracy Act, a new piece of legislation being considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

According to a report in The Washington Post, supporters of the bill, proposed by Republican committee chairman Lamar Smith of Texas, say it will "help media outlets, software makers and retailers fight the illegal distribution of movies, songs and software" and is primarily "aimed at foreign sites dedicated to pirated material."

Corporate lobbyists argued vociferously on both sides of the issue. Those representing patent and copyright holders, including the Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, support the bill's efforts to stop their products from being pirated in international markets. Web companies like Google and Facebook claim that the legislation forces them to police the whole of the Internet.

The lawmakers on the committee, too, had different views of how SOPA might impact the marketplace. Post reporter Cecilia Kang writes:

Several lawmakers expressed concern that the illegal exchange of copyrighted movies, software and music is draining U.S. media companies and that current laws don't give law enforcement enough power to stop bad actors.

And some questioned the motives of Web giants fighting the legislation.

Opposition is "really about the bottom line," said Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.). "Sites that specialize in stolen goods attract lots of users and lots of ads."

B&C, a trade publication for the broadcasting and cable industries, called Google the "elephant in the room" at the committee hearing, noting an extended back and forth between Democrat Mel Watt of North Carolina and Google Policy Counsel Katherine Oyama:

Oyama said Google already supported taking down sites, but through a legislative approach of following the money and choking off ad dollars and payment dollars rather than empowering ISPs to take down sites based on what she said were overly broad definitions in the bill.

She did say Google was willing to work with the committee to improve the bill, but seemed always to be saying any bill would have to take that "follow the money" approach. Oyama made the point that if a site was on the Web, it was going to show up in search. Google execs in past hearings have made the point that they were showing the Web as it was, rogue site warts and all as it were, not as some would wish it to be.

As the debate over SOPA continued, it became clear that there is general consensus that overseas piracy represents a significant problem for U.S. companies, but there is not yet overwhelming agreement about the best way to tackle the problem.

Talking to B&C reporter John Eggerton after the hearing, NBC Universal general counsel Rick Cotton said, "The tone of today's hearing reflected broad recognition that foreign websites dedicated to massive, wholesale theft, and counterfeiting are killing U.S. jobs. . . The majority of the Committee clearly recognized that it is time to tell the thieves who run rogue sites that we will not let them undermine the U.S. economy."

According to the Post, "Smith has said he hopes to move his legislation to markup before the end of the year. A similar Senate bill passed the Judiciary Committee in September."

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