Web Piracy Bills ‘Dead’ in U.S. From Lobbying, Dodd Says [View all]
Last edited Thu Apr 12, 2012, 05:09 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Bloomberg
By Eric Engleman - Apr 12, 2012
Hollywood-backed legislation to fight online piracy, shelved this year after an Internet protest led by Google Inc. (GOOG) and Wikipedia, is dead, said the head of the trade group for the largest movie studios.
The Stop Online Piracy Act, known as SOPA, is history, Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Washington-based Motion Picture Association of America, said in an interview for Conversations with Judy Woodruff on Bloomberg Television set to air this weekend. Its gone. In my view, its dead.
The organization representing studios including Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Viacom Inc. (VIAB)s Paramount Pictures had built bipartisan backing for the bill in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate through late last year. The bills would have given government and copyright holders more tools to crack down on non-U.S. websites that offer pirated content.
Congress shelved the legislation in January after Google and Wikipedia led an Internet protest against the bills, saying the measures would promote online censorship, disrupt the Webs architecture and harm their ability to innovate.
Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-11/web-piracy-bills-dead-in-u-dot-s-dot-from-lobbying-dodd-says