The White House Labels SOPA Censorship And Refuses To Support It

[Galraedia]

In response to two online petitions the Obama administration called SOPA and PIPA censorship, and announced their opposition to the two bills.

Three Obama administration officials wrote on behalf of the president the White House,

Right now, Congress is debating a few pieces of legislation concerning the very real issue of online piracy, including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the PROTECT IP Act and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN). We want to take this opportunity to tell you what the Administration will support—and what we will not support. Any effective legislation should reflect a wide range of stakeholders, including everyone from content creators to the engineers that build and maintain the infrastructure of the Internet.

While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small. Across the globe, the openness of the Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government, and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity. Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing.

We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk.

The White House called on the entertainment industry and the Internet providers to work together to adopt voluntary measures that will reduce online piracy. The Obama administration has made their position clear. No piece of legislation is acceptable. They do not believe that this is matter that should be addressed through the legislative process.

Read more: http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-opposes-sopa

[cthulu2016]

1. This "support" terminolgy is BS

The President has one method for supporting or not supporting new legislation -- the veto.

If the prresident "does not support" a bill in its current form then either he will VETO it in it's current form or he is just making conversation.

So just say what you mean.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Sounds encouraging. nt

[freshwest]

3. K & R

[Tx4obama]

4. K & R n/t