In advance of Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act, a coalition of national consumer groups has reached out to the committee to urge them to stop this legislation, which they believe is too far-reaching and could end up hurting the consumers it intends to protect.Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names are threatening to leave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over a bill that would make Web companies liable for pirated content that appears on their sites.Last month, Yahoo quietly quit the powerful business trade group, which supports the legislation. Google and the Consumer Electronics Association, which represents 2,200 firms, are warning they may do the same.
“Given the fact that their mission is to grow the American economy, sponsoring legislation that would harm one sector that is perhaps the brightest spot of the economy is short-sighted,” said CEA senior vice president Michael Petricone. “It makes one wonder what their membership will be like in the future.”
When asked whether CEA would drop its membership, he replied: “We are comfortably reassessing groups we are members of.”
Spats between the Chamber and its members rarely spill out into public view. And it’s unclear how an exodus of technology firms would impact the lobbying group’s considerable weight in Washington. The group does not disclose the names of its members, many of whom pay substantial amounts for the Chamber’s lobbying prowess.
The legislation could punish Web firms if copyrighted movies, songs or software appear on their sites. But it would address long-standing concerns from Hollywood studios, record labels and publishing houses, which lose $135 billion in revenues each year from piracy and counterfeiting, according to Chamber estimates.
The Chamber would not comment specifically on the decisions of individual members. But it argued that the proposals moving through the House and Senate would improve the quality of media content online and thus benefit Web firms.
“This is a common-sense way forward that is good for the whole industry,” said Steve Tepp, chief counsel on intellectual property for the Chamber’s Global IP Center.
Many Silicon Valley companies agree that piracy is a problem but say the legislation goes too far. Web giants including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn, eBay, and Mozilla on Tuesday co-wrote a letter to Senate and House lawmakers urging Congress to reconsider the measures. They fear the proposals would invite lawsuits and empower law enforcement to shut down their operations if a copyrighted movie or song appeared on their sites without their authorization.
The House Stop Online Piracy Act, which was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx.), will expand the powers of domestic law enforcement to police even foreign Web sites that violate U.S. copyright and intellectual property law. As Cecilia Kang explained :
The “Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261),” was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee. It would allow the FBI to seek injunctions against foreign Web sites that steal music, films, software and other intellectual property created by U.S. firms. The bill also includes provision that could hold third parties — payment-processing and other partners — responsible for piracy and counterfeiting on other sites, some critics say.
“Given the fact that their mission is to grow the American economy, sponsoring legislation that would harm one sector that is perhaps the brightest spot of the economy is short-sighted,” said CEA senior vice president Michael Petricone. “It makes one wonder what their membership will be like in the future.”
When asked whether CEA would drop its membership, he replied: “We are comfortably reassessing groups we are members of.”
Spats between the Chamber and its members rarely spill out into public view. And it’s unclear how an exodus of technology firms would impact the lobbying group’s considerable weight in Washington. The group does not disclose the names of its members, many of whom pay substantial amounts for the Chamber’s lobbying prowess.
The legislation could punish Web firms if copyrighted movies, songs or software appear on their sites. But it would address long-standing concerns from Hollywood studios, record labels and publishing houses, which lose $135 billion in revenues each year from piracy and counterfeiting, according to Chamber estimates.
The Chamber would not comment specifically on the decisions of individual members. But it argued that the proposals moving through the House and Senate would improve the quality of media content online and thus benefit Web firms.
“This is a common-sense way forward that is good for the whole industry,” said Steve Tepp, chief counsel on intellectual property for the Chamber’s Global IP Center.
Many Silicon Valley companies agree that piracy is a problem but say the legislation goes too far. Web giants including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn, eBay, and Mozilla on Tuesday co-wrote a letter to Senate and House lawmakers urging Congress to reconsider the measures. They fear the proposals would invite lawsuits and empower law enforcement to shut down their operations if a copyrighted movie or song appeared on their sites without their authorization.
The House Stop Online Piracy Act, which was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx.), will expand the powers of domestic law enforcement to police even foreign Web sites that violate U.S. copyright and intellectual property law. As Cecilia Kang explained :
The “Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261),” was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee. It would allow the FBI to seek injunctions against foreign Web sites that steal music, films, software and other intellectual property created by U.S. firms. The bill also includes provision that could hold third parties — payment-processing and other partners — responsible for piracy and counterfeiting on other sites, some critics say.
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