Public Knowledge Sees Dangers In New Intellectual Property Bill
Public Knowledge Sees Dangers In New Intellectual Property Bill
Public Knowledge Sees Dangers In New Intellectual Property Bill

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    The following statement is attributed to
    Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

    “The new House legislation (HR 3261)
    is an unwarranted expansion of government power to protect one special
    interest.  The bill would overturn
    the long-accepted principles and practices of the Digital Millennium Copyright
    Act notice and takedown process in favor of a one-sided enforcement mechanism
    that is far more broad than existing law while not attempting to protect the
    rights of anyone accused of copyright infringement.

     “In addition, anyone who writes about,
    or links to, a site suspected of infringement could also become a target of
    government action.  The bill also
    features the now well-known dangers to the engineering of the Internet
    domain-name system (DNS), endangering Internet security while requiring
    Internet Service Providers and search engines to take on vast new
    responsibilities to block access to suspected sites.

     “There is no need for a bill this
    sweeping and this Draconian.  There
    are simple, easily implemented solution on which industry and others agree —
    such as cutting off the ability of credit-card companies to fulfill payments to
    sites that traffic in copyright infringement.

     “At a time when Congress and the Obama
    Administration are trying to cut back on sweeping, overbroad regulation, we are
    disappointed that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith and his
    co-sponsors have chosen this means of establishing a vast new regulatory regime
    over the Internet.”