Pending in the US House of Representatives is H.R. 3261, also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Introduced on October 26, 2011 by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 co-sponsors, the bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods created by U.S. firms. It aims to address the very prevalent problems of digital piracy, use of the internet to disseminate illegal and potentially dangerous items such as counterfeit prescription drugs, and the “rogue websites” that traffic in these illegal and infringing activities. Under the legislation, rights-holders will be able to request that a credit-card firm or advertising network stop doing business with a foreign site, ask a search engine to take down links to the site, or ask an internet-service provider to block the site’s domain name, making it harder to reach.
Pros and Cons SOPA has several positive characteristics that make it a valuable bill. For example, current copyright enforcement laws have minimal effect on the large number of foreign websites that sell counterfeit products. As such, rights holders have become frustrated with the perceived lack of “teeth” of the current copyright enforcement laws. Under the new law, copyright owners would have the right to shut down any websites who replicate their music, videos, and other materials unauthorized. This would help induce those wishing to obtain the copyrighted material to obtain a legitimate copy rather than a pirated one, as the websites trafficking in pirated material will, theoretically, be easier to shut down and less prevalent. Consequently, the fewer pirated materials available should result in an increase in revenue of the businesses and original creators of the material since customers will be driven to