Kimberly Cunningham
BA – 226
Mid – Term Paper
January 31, 2012

SOPA/PIPA
“Stop Online Piracy Act”/“Protect Intellectual Property Act”

Recently, there has been much debate regarding the Stop Online Piracy and Protect Intellectual Property acts. Both of these acts involve online copyright infringement of intellectual property. These acts are basically attempting to put in place regulations for the government to control the content of what is being “shared” over the internet. The first act that was written was the “Protect Intellectual Property Act,” (“PIPA”) which was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy on May 12, 2011. This proposed act was to limit access to various websites operating outside of the United States which were/are engaging in copyright and intellectual property infringement. Basically, what is covered in this proposed act is the illegal infringement of copy written materials through various channels, including distribution via the internet. This act is proposing that internet service providers have a duty to protect copy written materials by making such internet sites unavailable to the average user by not posting links to questionable sites. In addition, search engines, under this act, would be required to disable access to any internet sites engaging in questionable activities and not provide a hypertext to these internet sites. The second act, (often referred to as the “Sister Act” of “PIPA”), was introduced by Republican House Member Lamar Smith on October 26, 2011, almost six months after “PIPA”. “SOPA”’s goal was to expand the ability of the United States government to fight illegal copyright infringement over the internet. This would also include illegal use of intellectual property and illegal trafficking of counterfeit goods. The act would allow the government to control, among other things, online advertising, online