Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 968, the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP),” and H.R. 3261, the ”Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).”  It is good to hear from you.

S. 968 was introduced on May 12, 2011, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  On May 26, it was reported out of committee and placed on the general legislative calendar.  If enacted, S. 968 would amend federal copyright law to authorize the Attorney General to file civil action against violators of copyright infringement law.

H.R. 3261 was introduced on October 26, 2011, and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.  On December 16, it was considered before the full committee; however, the bill was not voted out for consideration by the full House.  If enacted, H.R. 3261 would authorize the Attorney General to seek a court order against a U.S.-directed foreign Internet site committing or facilitating online piracy.

On January 23, 2012, a procedural vote on S. 968 was scheduled in the Senate; however, Majority Leader Reid announced that this vote will be postponed in order to allow for modifications to the bill to be made.  Furthermore, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith announced that further consideration of H.R. 3261 would be postponed indefinitely.

It was always clear that SOPA and PROTECT IP needed to be perfected, and that legitimate concerns needed to be addressed before these bills could move forward.  Given this and my constituents concerns, it was always my intention to oppose moving forward until concerns had been addressed.  With the majority leader’s decision to postpone the cloture vote on the PROTECT IP Act originally scheduled for January 24, I withdrew my co-sponsorship to await the resolution of the outstanding issues.

I believe that online theft is a serious issue, and that Congress needs to make certain that our laws adequately protect the interests of rights holders.  When $58 billion in economic output is lost to the U.S. economy annually due to copyright theft of movies, music, packaged software and video games, and about one-quarter of all internet traffic is copyright infringing, there is a real problem that needs to be addressed.  I have complete faith that we will be able to work out a compromise in the future that addresses this, while still promoting free and open access to the internet. Should a bill addressing this topic come before the full Senate for consideration, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

I was surprised but not upset that Mr. Chambliss’ office didn’t answer me first. He was the only lawmaker to respond to the auto-letter I sent via the One campaign during the Live 8 concerts. I am not going to send a response to this letter because it was written to current news (explaining that the bills in question have left the floor) and I’m sure everyone reading this appreciates that he dislikes parts of the bill that are inappropriate.

Though the issue is far from resolved, it seems that this chapter of it is about to blow over, so instead I would like to put my position on the subject into clear writing.

My problem with the ideas in the SOPA and PIPA bills has little to do with censorship or piracy. While I understand how abuse of such a law can easily lead to censorship, it is clear in the language of the bills that censorship is not its intended use. The problem is the power that the bill asserts and infers.

Because the Internet is an international construction, I insist that it should be governed in whole by an international body. It should not be lawless, but I prefer that the treaty be redrafted and ratified to explain that no single country should be able to determine how it is used. I would even suggest that the Internet have its own laws as if it is sovereign, so that it can be exempt from any country’s law. That way, a user in one country has the same expectations as a user in another, with regards to how registration works, what is acceptable use, and so on.

I also think that copyright and patent law as a whole should be reformed and the terms of both greatly shortened. I don’t see a purpose in having a copyright last two whole lifetimes; why should a person be able to stop being a productive member of society on the strength of a single idea? As above, the Internet should have its own versions of copyright and patent law to minimize confusion and keep the rules uniform in all participating countries.

I’m sure that both of my letters from senators are copied to anyone that wrote their offices during the “blackout” time period, that is part of the reason why I am sharing them here, but the responses are thoughtful and appreciated.

The next chapter in this ordeal is not getting enough attention, so I suggest watching over the MegaUpload shutdown case carefully. I am interested to see what sort of proof is presented, because in order to have a case, the DOJ must present indisputable evidence that MegaUpload was deliberately created to promote piracy.

Related articles

• SOPA and PIPA both shelved for now. (arstechnica.com)
• EU Politicians Send Letter To US Congress Warning Of ‘Extraterritorial Effects’ Of SOPA And PIPA (opendotdotdot.blogspot.com)

Thank you for contacting me regarding intellectual property theft.  I appreciate hearing from you and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

S.968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act of 2011, was introduced by Senator Leahy (D-VT) on May 12, 2011, and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  On May 26, 2011, it was reported out of Committee and is currently pending in the Senate.   The bill targets websites, particularly those registered outside of the United States, which are “dedicated to infringing activities.”  These rogue websites typically offer unauthorized downloading or streaming of copyrighted content or the sale of counterfeit goods including music, movies, and pharmaceutical drugs.

Websites targeted by this bill are foreign owned and outside the reach of U.S. laws despite the fact U.S. intellectual property is being infringed upon and U.S. consumers are the targets.  Rogue websites cost American workers jobs and cost businesses millions of dollars in lost revenue.  As online technology and commerce advances, we must see to it that injured parties have the ability to stop infringers from profiting from counterfeit products.  For example, a victim of infringement will have the authority to file a civil action against the owner or registrant of a rogue site.  If an order is granted by the court, third parties will be required to stop processing payments from the infringing sites, therefore, preventing infringers from collecting payments.  I will work to ensure that our laws our modernized to protect intellectual property, and will keep your thoughts on this bill in mind should it come before the Senate for a vote.

Thank you again for contacting me.  Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter.
Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator

I appreciate getting an honest reply from a senator’s office, complete with an explanation of the goal of the legislation. It is important to see how this sort of bill is presented to members of Congress in order to understand why bills like this continue to live while others think it is common sense to destroy the legislation immediately (or wonder why some ideas were proposed in the first place.)

The Internet is an international treaty. Although the computers that make up the Internet are under the jurisdiction of many different countries, and particular parts of its network are governed by these countries’ laws, the Internet in its entirety belongs to the whole world and is without precedent.

Only a body with worldwide scope should have the jurisdiction to decide what can or cannot be accessed on the Internet.

Although other countries have chosen to filter, adjust, or limit access to information that can be retrieved on the Internet, it is not the purpose of the network and is counterproductive. The protocols of the Internet are open and free for all to study and learn, so all attempts to block or divert traffic are known, and can be circumvented by any user (even if it is not legal to do so.)

It is my understanding that the domain registration provisions are being reconsidered. This is wise because any person can create a domain name service, publicly or privately, making this aspect of the bill impossible to enforce.

Are the punishments for failing to obey a court order based on PROTECT IP the same as existing punishments in copyright law? It is not clear how a search engine could be punished for failing to remove an ad or link (are they found in contempt of court?) nor is it clear why existing laws against the sale of counterfeit physical goods do not suffice. Legislation against the digital transfer of data will always be toothless as stated above; any preventive measure can be circumvented by any person, even if that circumvention is outlawed.

Sites like this one cannot publicize themselves fairly under the restrictions suggested by the SOPA and PIPA bills. I’ve had a song removed under YouTube’s take-down-first guilty-until-you-swear-you’re-innocent system, and the notion that a Congressman can think that sort of arrangement is constitutionally acceptable is disturbing. I worry that this kind of protesting will continue to fall on deaf ears, but if this does reach an appropriate politician, understand that every day that a non-violent demonstration is ignored is a day closer to the day when our activists decide that we should resort to other measures.

Ask a soldier, protection of the US Constitution is worth dying for.

See you next time.

Related articles

• SOPA, PIPA: We WILL be heard (piedtype.com)
• Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in Plain English (thetechscoop.net)
• Awesome YouTube Video Explains Why PIPA And SOPA Are Bad For The Internet Users; You Should Be Watching (essayboard.com)
• Wikipedia, MoveOn, Reddit, Mozilla shuts down to protest SOPA/PIPA, how to prepare (cbsnews.com)

It's more than just the whole country i.imgur.com/vEpSp.jpg—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) October 28, 2011

@chunter16 what is more than three thirds? 133%?—
Joe Schott (@joe_schott) October 28, 2011

@joe_schott The article doesn't say, as little as 100.0001% is more than three thirds…—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) October 28, 2011

@chunter16 we are the >100%—
Joe Schott (@joe_schott) October 28, 2011

Commenters talk about Apple like they didn't exist in the 90's. They learned their trade through a couple decades of failure.—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) October 04, 2011

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." – Steve Jobs (RIP)—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) October 06, 2011

Please support cancer research.—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) October 06, 2011

Today, considering the fast life style that everyone is having, credit cards get this amazing demand in the economy. Persons coming from every arena are using credit card and people who not using the credit cards have arranged to apply for one. Thanks for sharing your ideas in credit cards.

These days of austerity as well as relative anxiousness about having debt, a lot of people balk about the idea of employing a credit card in order to make purchase of merchandise or perhaps pay for a trip, preferring, instead only to rely on a tried in addition to trusted approach to making transaction – cash. However, if you\’ve got the cash available to make the purchase 100 %, then, paradoxically, that is the best time for you to use the credit cards for several factors.

One thing is that one of the most frequent incentives for making use of your credit cards is a cash-back or perhaps rebate present. Generally, you\’ll get 1-5% back upon various expenditures. Depending on the credit cards, you may get 1% back again on most buying, and 5% back again on expenditures made at convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores as well as \’member merchants\’.

Thanks for these tips. One thing I should also believe is the fact that credit cards featuring a 0% interest rate often entice consumers with zero interest, instant endorsement and easy on the web balance transfers, nonetheless beware of the number one factor that is going to void your 0% easy street annual percentage rate and also throw anybody out into the very poor house rapidly.

Thanks for your tips. One thing we\’ve noticed is that banks as well as financial institutions know the spending behavior of consumers plus understand that a lot of people max out their credit cards around the holiday seasons. They prudently take advantage of this fact and begin flooding your current inbox in addition to snail-mail box together with hundreds of Zero APR card offers shortly after the holiday season ends. Knowing that if you are like 98% of American open public, you\’ll get at the possible opportunity to consolidate personal credit card debt and move balances for 0 rate credit cards.

US death penalty humiliates us in the eyes of much of the world—
Alec Baldwin (@AlecBaldwin) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel Yes, it's so refreshing to know that the accused in my state are guilty even if proven innocent. </sarcasm>—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 Im sorry if Ive offended cos so many good ppl there – this decision is just so wrong tho—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel There was evidence of a mistrial that went completely ignored even through the appeals process, it's terrible—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel I'm not offended, I'm embarrassed. I'm originally from New Jersey, there are aspects of culture here that… don't suit me.—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 could say same about anywhere – different things in different places Just so sad about it all—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel Yes, sad is a nice way to say it. For the record, Savannah, GA is about 90 miles north of me.—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 must be horrendous there for you all right now for so many reasons Pls stay strong try get thru it all—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel tbh the local news spent more time complaining about Google Street View and a NASA satellite orbit decaying.—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 huh? thats not news guess its all moot point now though nothing can bring him back—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel Local news are now reading from a twitter search—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 oh dear need I say anything? Thats bad REALLY bad—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 I dont know about the midnight thing – havent heard exact rulings of it all (trying to read it all & keep up cos big news here)—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

@BrownSquirrel fwiw you may know more about it than I do, which is just as terrible—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

http://twitter.com/#!/BrownSquirrel/status/116718558335074304

@BrownSquirrel Fourth line of front page. I will try to get a look at my town's paper tomorrow for comparison.—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

Edit: I forgot to get a photo of the paper, but this story was run today, click here to read.

@BrownSquirrel My fiancee is surprised that it is a global story but in a way I'm glad that it is—
Christopher Hunter (@chunter16) September 22, 2011

@chunter16 most places as far as I know dont have the death penalty any more so thats possibly why?—
  (@BrownSquirrel) September 22, 2011

I bought this book along with “The Missing Piece” almost 10 years ago, when I was in college. My friend introduced me to those books, and I had to get my own copies. In fact, a good number of people among my circle of friends got their own copies as well.I think those two books are the only “children’s books” I have in my possession, but they are among the most touching and most memorable of all the books I own and read. And even though they’re labeled as children’s books (and they sure look that way too), I feel they’re a better fit (haha, no pun intended) for grown-ups.If you plan on getting this book (as you well should), then definitely get “The Missing Piece” as well. I don’t think the story and the message of The Missing Piece fable is complete with just one book. You gotta get both books to fully appreciate it.Highest utmost recommendations. God, I love this book.

I’m sure it was based on a search of the title of this song.

• News of the World are being confused with an actual newspaper, which is expected to adhere to standards of journalist integrity.
• The Parliament committee that had the hearing is being confused with an actual lawmaking body qualified to protect a people’s privacy.
• The Murdochs were being confused with people who need and care about tabloid print. They explained that it was such a tiny fraction of their business that they could have relieved themselves of it years ago and prevented the whole ordeal.

What if a malicious visitor to the House of Commons was armed with more than whipped cream?

Why was there no such stunt against Bernard Madoff?

I’m sure I’m not the only one to bring this up, but it’s worth mention. What credibility did UK politicians gain in those hearings?

Related articles

• Rupert Murdoch’s humble pie as legend crumbles (menmedia.co.uk)
• Photos: Rupert Murdoch Attacked With Shaving Cream Pie During Hearing (sfist.com)
• Murdoch humble, but saved the spectacle of being forced to eat pie… (blogs.journalism.co.uk)

I used to be happy to find this web-site.I wanted to good time because of this wonderful read!!

I wanted to “good time” last night too, but my fiancée had a headache.