TECH 4220 1 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA

TECH 4220 Team 3 Group Assessment SOPA/PIPA Adam Rudolph Sherri Spagnola Freddy Suyoto Bowling Green State University

TECH 4220 2 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA Summary

On October 26, 2011, sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) HR-3261 was introduced in the House and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) S-968, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was introduced in the Senate. These bills together proposed to hinder counterfeit trafficking of copyright materials by foreign entities. The proposed solution would allow ISPs to block access to illegal websites ("Open Congress H.R.3261," 2012, "Open congress S.968," 2012). Unfortunately, this solution proposal would open a door to cyber security issues with the possibility of hacking and virus use. In addition, this solution was interpreted to have First Amendment constraints on freedom of speech and expression. Additionally, the bills gave increased power to the Justice Department which would enable it to pursue court orders against those foreign perpetrators. The bills also proposed punishment for public performance and digital transmission of works which are copyrighted. As Spinello points out, Copyright protection is a delicate balancing act, and that balance can be easily threatened by aggressive policies designed to protect content providers (Spinello, 2002). Entertainment groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association support legislation to stop the copyright infringements that artists and performers are suffering (Abrams, 2012). As the bills made their way through the Congressional system, internet service providers and supporters of free internet continued their efforts to stop the SOPA and PIPA bills from progressing. On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Wikipedia, Reddit, Google, Craigslist, Boing Boing, I Can Has Cheezburger?, and WordPress.org, staged a blackout in the largest online protest in history in protest of these bills (Vafeiadis, 2012). With the outpouring of support and the grassroots effort, many legislators including Blunt, Boozman,

TECH 4220 3 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA Cardin, Hatch, Pelosi, and Rubio changed direction and now oppose these legislations ("SOPA timeline," 2012).

On January 20, 2012, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), author of the Stop Online Piracy Act, said that he is postponing consideration of the bill in response to concerns from critics who said the bill could lead to censorship. (Kane, 2012)

Since that time, new legislation, CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) HR-3523 introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) is making its way through Congress passing the House on April 26, 2012 and received in the Senate on May 7, 2012 ("Open Congress H.R.3523," 2012). Opponents of this bill show concern that it contains similarities to SOPA. CISPA is proposed to allow cyber threat intelligence sharing between private-sector and the government (Goyette, 2012). "U.S. Congress - H.R.3261 Stop Online Piracy Act." Opencongress.org. Participatory Politics Foundation, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. <http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show>. This site outlines a summary of some of the basic provisions provided by the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy) bill presented to the United States House of Congress in an effort to legally charge foreign entities from Internet piracy of copyrighted material. The SOPA bill summary lists some of the infractions as: copyrighted works through digital means, trade secret offenses and other intellectual property violations. The bill also identifies some of the provisions that give legal ground for prosecution to include: notification of infraction provided to the violator to cease, failure by any network provider to enforce preventative measures to sites in violation.

TECH 4220 4 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA "U.S. Congress - S.968 PIPA." S.968: PIPA. Participatory Politics Foundation, 26 May 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. <http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show>. The PIPA (Protect IP Act) was brought forth to the United States Congress to authorize the government to take action against any nondomestic domain name (NDN) used by an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities (ISDIA) to incur intellectual property theft. The bill proposes that financial service providers, internet service providers and information location tools (ILTs) such as search engines, will comply with implementing preventative measures to avoid and inhibited any actions taken to purposefully steal any copyrighted material or intellectual property. The bill also explains that these entities will be held liable for not enforcing standards, but are granted reprieve for their cooperation for taking the proper measures and cooperation for prevention of this type of online theft. Blue, Violet. "Say 'hello' to CISPA, It Will Remind You of SOPA." CNET News. CBS Interactive, 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 May 2012. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_357413627-93/say-hello-to-CISPA-it-will-remind-you-of-SOPA/>. As the author explains in this editorial, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing Protection Act (CISPA) bill is a follow up to the PIPA and SOPA bills, but only worse. The author highlights that the intent and campaigning for this bill is being addressed as un-similar to its predecessors. It is further explained that the bills intent is to remove the legalities from large companies that maintain digital information on private citizens, and allow them circumvent Internet privacy laws in an effort to help the Department of Homeland Security, when requested. Additionally, the author points, in an opposing view to the

TECH 4220 5 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA bill, that it also includes content that was originally included in the failed SOPA and PIPA acts, and is cloaked in the name of national security. McSherry, C. (2011, October 28). SOPA: Hollywood Finally Gets A Chance to Break the Internet. Retrieved May 28-29, 2012, from ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: Defending Your Rights in The Digital World: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/SOPA-hollywood-finally-gets-chance-breakinternet

This article explains how SOPA; Stop Online Privacy Act, an internet regulation act would impact social networking services such as Twitter, and Tumblr. The article highlights this bill being directed only toward rogue foreign sites as well as US companies. According to the article, the SOPA bill sets up a system to punish sites dedicated to the theft of US property. Additionally, the article explains how Hollywood is tired of those pesky laws that protect innovation, economic growth and creativity.

SOPA, PIPA supporters explain why they think the bills are necessary. (2012, January 18). Retrieved May 28-29, 2012, from PRI - Public Radio International: http://www.pri.org/stories/science/technology/SOPA-PIPA-supporters-explain-whythey-think-the-bills-are-necessary-8006.html

In this article, some of the largest and most powerful companies in America such as Sony Entertainment, Time Warner, and Pfizer, support the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills to reduce online piracy. This article also states that foreign thieves steal Americas most

TECH 4220 6 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA innovative and creative ideas and products; medicine, automobile parts, clothing, and shoes and selling defective merchandise back into the U.S. market. An advocate for the SOPA and PIPA bills, Steve Tepp, chief intellectual property counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chamber is looking into finding a reasonable solution.

TECH 4220 7 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA References Abrams, J. (2012, January 19). PIPA and SOPA: What you need to know. Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2012/0119/PIPA-and-SOPA-What-you-need-toknow Goyette, B. (2012, April 27). CISPA, a controversial cyber security bill, passed the house last night. But what is it?. Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-0427/news/31422019_1_private-sector-privacy-bill Kane, P. (2012, January 20). [Web log message]. Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/SOPA-senate-vote-to-be-delayedreid-announces/2012/01/20/gIQApRWVDQ_blog.html Open congress H.R.3261 Stop Online Piracy Act. (2012). Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show Open congress H.R.3523 Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. (2012). Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3523/show Open congress S.968 PIPA. (2012). Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show SOPA timeline. (2012). Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://sopastrike.com/timeline Spinello, R. (2002). Regulating cyberspace. (p. 154). Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Vafeiadis, M. (2012). How five websites are protesting SOPA. Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/2012/0117/How-five-websites-are-protestingSOPA/Wikipedia

TECH 4220 8 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA List of questions Based on this information, what do you think would have happened had the large websites, e.g., Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, etc., not staged a blackout just prior to the Congressional vote? Was this the turning point for SOPA and PIPA? Did the grassroots efforts of the tech geeks contribute to this change of direction? As users of the internet, do we as individuals need some form of legislative protection against piracy acts? Do these bills infringe on our freedom of speech? If you are a well-known musical artist (e.g. Metallica, U2, Rihanna) in what ways will SOPA affect you? From a musical artists perspective, I want to market my songs without big names such as Sony to be involved, would the SOPA bill work to my advantage or disadvantage? Why or why not? Stop Online Piracy Act - Authorizes the Attorney General (AG) to seek a court order against a U.S.-directed foreign Internet site committing or facilitating online piracy - what is a U.S.directed foreign Internet site? Does this bill only apply to them? If so, why are people against this? Shouldnt this be a good thing? How do we see this bill affecting consumers in the U.S.? How do we see this bill affecting corporations such as ISPs? How do we see this bill affecting music and movie industries? Is the larger issue the section of the bill where it states: Expands the offense of criminal copyright infringement to include public performances of: (1) copyrighted work by digital transmission, and (2) work intended for commercial dissemination by making it available on a computer network. And what about this statement: Expands the criminal offenses of trafficking in inherently dangerous goods or services to include: (1) counterfeit drugs; and (2) goods or services falsely identified as meeting military standards or intended for use in a national security, law enforcement, or critical infrastructure application. How does this even relate to what the rest of the bill is in reference to? Or, is this one of those extras that members of Congress like to add in to bills during markups and revisions before they are passed? CISPA What about CISPA? This bill passed the House on April 26, 2012 and appears to be extremely similar to SOPA/PIPA. Why did we not hear much about this bill and where were the large stagings and blackouts to thwart its passage?

TECH 4220 9 Team 3 SOPA/PIPA Is CISPA the next version of SOPA/PIPA? And is it beneficial to anyone in the name of Homeland Security or is it really a protection method for companies who choose to release our private data? How do we see this bill, which has already passed through the House, affecting our privacy rights?