A bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives recently introduced legislation intended to combat the illegal distribution of counterfeit goods via rogue websites hosted overseas.The proposed bill greatly expands protections for intellectual property (IP) and, if passed, would bring sweeping changes to copyright law.
Among other things, the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) would allow the Justice Department to seek injunctions against foreign websites suspected of pirating goods or content. The bill would also allow the government and copyright holders to demand that third parties, such as payment processors and online ad networks, terminate services with rogue sites.
As stated by Judiciary House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), “Rogue websites that steal and sell American innovations have operated with impunity. The online thieves who run these foreign websites are out of the reach of U.S. law enforcement agencies and profit from selling pirated goods without any legal consequences. According to estimates, IP theft costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs.”
Despite the strong words from the bill’s sponsors and support from the content industry, the Stop Online Privacy Act has many critics. Leaders from both the public and private sector argue that the bill goes too far and would create too much uncertainty for the technology industry. Industry groups representing Internet Service Providers and the large tech companies such as Google and Yahoo have all spoken out against the bill.
Most recently, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to their colleagues urging them not to support the bill. They stated: “H.R. 3261 unfortunately does not follow a consensus-based approach. It would give the government sweeping new powers to order Internet Service Providers to implement various filtering technologies on their networks. It would also create new forms of private legal action against websites—cutting them off from payment and advertising providers by default, without any court review, upon a complaint from any copyright owner, even one whose work is not necessarily being infringed.”
Given the controversy surrounding the bill, its future is largely uncertain. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for this week. We will post updates as they become available.
At Sheldon Mak & Anderson, we recognize that innovation is your competitive edge – and it needs protection. As a full-service intellectual property firm with more than two decades of experience, we provide local, regional, national, and international legal services in the following areas: patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, IP litigation, international patent and trademark prosecution, licensing, alternative dispute resolution, and green technology.
Contact our knowledgeable intellectual property attorneys today TOLL FREE at 1-855-UR IDEAS (1-855-874-3327) to find out how we can provide a powerful defense of your unique ideas.
