As we noted last week, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has generated backlash from many leading technology companies. While SOPA is aimed at shutting down foreign websites that pirate copyrighted material created by U.S. firms, its critics argue the bill goes too far.Internet giants, including Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, have banded together to fight the legislation. Just last week, the companies sent a letter the judiciary committees of both the U.S. House and Senate.
The companies state that although they support the stated goals of the legislation to combat foreign “rogue” websites, “the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of web sites.”
Given these concerns, the technology companies have asked the committees to “consider more targeted ways to combat foreign ‘rogue’ websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that has made the Internet such an important driver of economic growth and job creation.”
The letter also expresses particular concern that SOPA will undermine the provisions of the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The provision protects Internet companies that act in good faith to remove infringing content from their sites.
The letter states, “Since their enactment in 1998, the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions for online service providers have been a cornerstone of the U.S. Internet and technology industry’s growth and success. While we work together to find additional ways to target foreign ‘rogue’ sites, we should not jeopardize a foundational structure that has worked for content owners and Internet companies alike and provides certainty to innovators with new ideas for how people create, find, discuss, and share information lawfully online.”
The full text of the letter is available here. As promised, we will continue to provide updates on the status of SOPA as new developments arise.
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