Facebook relieved at SOPA, PIPA delay
After US lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks, Facebook expressed their relief in a post and thanked its users for their support and feedback. Like Wikipedia and others, Facebook, however, didn't go dark in protest against SOPA and PIPA, but it expressed its opposition to the anti-piracy bills. But after lawmakers put the bills on hold (until there is wider agreement on a solution), Facebook expressed their relief on the Faceboook Washington DC page.
The post made by the company reads: "We are relieved that Congress has recognised the serious damage the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) could cause to the Internet and are pleased that congressional leaders have decided not to move forward on these bills. We want to thank the millions of Facebook users who shared their views with us, with members of Congress, and with their friends and families on this important issue, and who changed the direction of this harmful legislation. We appreciate that lawmakers have listened to our community's concerns, and we stand ready to work with them on solutions to piracy and copyright infringement that will not chill free expression or threaten the economic growth and innovation the Internet provides. You can read more about Facebook's view on this legislation by clicking the "Anti-Piracy Bills" tab on the left side of the Facebook Washington DC page."
Q: What is the purpose of the bill?
A: There are actually two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act, known as SOPA, in the House and sister legislation called the Protect IP [Intellectual Property] Act, or PIPA, in the Senate. Both are designed to tackle the problem of foreign-based websites that sell pirated movies, music and other products.
Federal law enforcement has the authority to shut down U.S.-based websites that offer pirated content, but they can't directly do the same to foreign sites like Pirate Bay. The Motion Picture Association of America, the legislation's main backer, estimates 13% of American adults have watched illegal copies of movies or TV shows online, and it says the practice has cost media companies billions of dollars.
Q: How do the bills attempt to stop piracy?
A: The basic method is to stop U.S. companies from providing funding, advertising, links or other assistance to the foreign sites. The bills would give Justice Department prosecutors new powers to prevent pirate sites from getting U.S. visitors and funding.
Q: What are the new powers?
A: The Justice Department could seek a court order requiring U.S. Internet providers to block access to foreign pirate websites. Access could be blocked either by making it impossible for users to type a simple web address into an Internet browser to reach the site or by requiring search engines like Google to disable links to the sites.
The attorney general could also seek a court order requiring credit-card processors to stop processing payments to the sites and requiring advertising networks to stop placing ads on the sites or taking ads from the pirated websites for display elsewhere.
In addition, both bills would allow Hollywood studios and other content owners to take private legal action against websites that are alleged to be hosting pirated material.
The legislation would allow content owners to ask a court to require credit-card companies and advertising networks to stop payments to sites allegedly hosting pirated material.
Q: Who's opposed to SOPA?
A: Much of the Internet industry and a large percentage of Internet users.
On November 15, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, eBay, Mozilla, Yahoo, AOL, and LinkedIn wrote a letter to key members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, saying SOPA poses "a serious risk to our industry's continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as to our nation's cybersecurity." Yahoo has reportedly quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the organization's enthusiastic support for SOPA.
