[aklug] Fwd: Responding to your message (SOPA Bill)

I finally received a response back from Don Young about the SOPA Bill.
You can read it and interpret it for yourself, but my summary is: "I
agree fundamentally with the bill and everything it is trying to
accomplish, but there are so many people who hate the bill that it
should probably be tweaked in a few places to address their concerns."

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Responding to your message
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 17:50:21 -0500
From: Congressman Don Young <ak00iqima@mail.house.gov>
To: <christopher.howard@frigidcode.com>

Dear Mr. Howard,

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy
Act. I appreciate having the benefit of your thoughts.

On October 26, 2011, Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced H.R.
3261 to ensure that owners of copyrighted content and the Department of
Justice (DOJ) have the ability to take action against "rogue" websites
in other countries that allow the unauthorized distribution of
intellectual property, especially movies and music, produced in the
United States. Specifically, this bill would enable owners of
copyrighted material and the DOJ to pressure "intermediaries" in this
country - Internet service providers, search engines, advertising
providers and payment services - that do business with them.

As introduced, the language of H.R. 3261 entitles the DOJ to seek court
orders to require advertising services, search engines, Internet service
providers, and payment services - such as Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal -
to stop doing business with foreign sites seen as "infringing" on
copyrights. The DOJ could also require Internet service providers to
block access to sites seen as abetting copyright infringement, creating
a Web blacklist. Additionally, H.R. 3261 seeks to protect manufacturers
of pharmaceuticals and other goods and services who see knockoff
versions of their products advertised on such sites.

Thus far, H.R, 3261 has been extremely controversial and has generated
alarm on both sides of the political spectrum. Opponents of this bill
believe that it is so loosely worded it could threaten many U.S.
websites, especially social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube. To
stay in business, opponents contend that such sites would have to more
closely police content posted by millions of users every day.
Moreover, they point out that H.R. 3261 gives the government overly
broad power to punish Web-related companies and could potentially chill
innovation among Internet-related start-ups. One large issue with H.R.
3261 is that the owners of the copyrighted material would not have to go
to court first in order to shut down or block a "rogue" website.
Rather, they could simply allege to payment and ad services that certain
sites are "dedicated to theft of U.S. property," and the payment and ad
services would have five days to cut off service to them.

However, proponents of H.R. 3261 say the bill is badly needed to address
rampant copyright infringements, which are estimated to play a role in
25 percent of Internet traffic. In fact, according to the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, copyright infringement costs the U.S. economy at least $135
billion a year. This loss has significantly hurt an already unstable
and underperforming job market in the U.S. Overall, advocates contend
that H.R. 3261 is simply intended to deal with potential copyright
thieves on a case-by-case basis.

While I agree with the overarching goal of H.R. 3261, namely to stop
online piracy, and believe that it is well-intentioned, I do acknowledge
that it has some flaws. However, the legislative process, in both the
House and Senate, allows for amendments to help correct and mitigate
some of these flaws. Currently, H.R. 3261 has been referred to the
House Committee on the Judiciary and preliminary hearings have been
held. While I am not a member of this committee, please know that I
will keep your thoughts and concerns in mind should this legislation
reach the House floor for a vote.

Once again, thank you for expressing your views on this issue. If you
haven't already, I would encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter at
http://donyoung.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm
<http://donyoung.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm> and my YouTube
channel at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RepDonYoung
<http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RepDonYoung> . Doing so will
allow me to provide you with updates on this and other important issues.
If I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Sincerely,

DON YOUNG

Congressman for All Alaska

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Received on Thu Dec 8 14:19:42 2011