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Stop Online Piracy Act

January 27, 2012 by · Comments Off on Stop Online Piracy Act 

Stop Online Piracy Act, Most critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act emphasize that online piracy is a major problem – they just thought the bills went too far. So now that the bills have hit a wall, what’s next?

The Consumer Electronics Association, which joined thousands of other organizations in blacking out its website last Wednesday to protest the bills, supports a different bill that refers disputes to the International Trade Commission instead of the Department of Justice. The Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade Act, or OPEN Act, would not create frivolous lawsuits or have the collateral damage of SOPA or PIPA, said CEA’s vice president of government affairs Michael Petricone.

The halting of SOPA and PIPA allows stakeholders to “step back” and “reset” and think about reasonable solutions, Petricone said, adding that an ideal solution would make both the content and tech/Internet communities happy. And while SOPA and PIPA could be amended and advanced again, they have become so “toxic and radioactive” that they likely won’t make any progress.

“No one wants to come close to them,” Petricone said.

While the OPEN Act is much better than SOPA or PIPA, and includes some practical solutions to online piracy problems, there is no rush to push a bill through, said Art Brodsky, the communications director of Public Knowledge.

“We’re not prepared to throw [the OPEN Act] out, but we don’t think there’s any need to go ahead and pass something,” Brodsky said.

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