Experts disagree on reach of anti-piracy bills

January 18, 2012

USA Today

By Roger Yu

Supporters and opponents of anti-piracy legislation stepped up their fight this week ahead of key votes in Congress next week that could dramatically alter the Internet.

The legislation — two similar bills pending in the House and Senate — would empower the Department of Justice and copyright holders to shut down websites that violate intellectual property or sell counterfeit goods. A range of U.S. businesses and their trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, pharmaceutical and media companies and publishers, say it would lead to more jobs and revenues and promote consumer safety.

Opponents, including large and small Internet companies and First Amendment advocates, argue that it would stifle innovation and lead to censorship. Here are key issues to consider:

Q: What are SOPA and PIPA?

A: SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a House bill introduced in October that aims to expand the powers of U.S. attorneys general and copyright holders to crack down on websites that display or link to copyrighted intellectual property or counterfeit goods. The U.S. Senate has a similar bill pending, the Protect IP Act, called PIPA.

Any website that "engages in, enables or facilitates" copyright infringement could be placed on a list of websites that would be blocked by Internet service providers. Copyright holders could also ask the court to force online advertising companies to stop doing business with the allegedly infringing website, have payment processors cease financial transactions with the site or get search engines to stop listing such sites.

SOPA opponents also say that many provisions in the bills are vaguely written and that websites that display user-generated content are particularly vulnerable.

Q: How likely is it that the bills will pass?

A: The longer they stay in committees, the less likely the bills will pass. SOPA is still being debated in the House Judiciary Committee and will not be put up for a vote without a consensus. PIPA cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has placed a hold on it and said he will filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will try to override the filibuster with a procedural vote on Jan. 24.

Q: What type of websites would be most affected by SOPA?

A: SOPA proponents argue that the bill targets only foreign websites that are aimed at U.S. consumers and whose operations exist mostly to infringe on copyrights or sell illegal goods. "Your experience going to these domestic websites won't change at all," says Sandra Aistars, executive director of the Copyright Alliance, which supports the bill.

She says Facebook Russia, for example, would be exempt because it targets mostly Russians. EBay.co.uk also would not be subjected to it because its operation exists mainly to sell goods, not to engage in illegal activities, Aistars says.

That's debatable, says Marvin Ammori, an intellectual property attorney who opposes the bill. The legal standard for determining whether a website with a foreign domain name targets U.S. consumers is unclear, he says. "Everything is U.S.-directed," he says. The bill is also vague on the legal standard for determining if a website is "dedicated" to illegal activities, Ammori says. YouTube, for example, could be held liable if a handful of individuals upload illegal content, he says.

Q: How would my surfing change?

A: Obviously rogue sites, such as peer-to-peer music-sharing sites, would be "shut down" right away. You would not be able to access the site by typing its usual Web address. But that's "not going to stop people who want infringing work. They're going to find a way," says Julie Samuels, a staff attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Some popular sites, such as Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube, will have to spend more to monitor possibly illegal content, says Leslie Harris, CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology.

Small companies are more vulnerable because they lack resources to fight back, Samuels says.

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