Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers,
We write to express our concerns with H.R.3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
While combating online copyright infringement is a goal we all strongly support, if
enacted as currently written, this legislation would cause substantial harm to the
innovation and economic opportunities created by the internet.
The Internet continues to be a revolutionary tool, advancing technological innovation,
disseminating artistic expression, and supporting millions of jobs across the country.
In fact, a recent McKinsey report concluded that 15% of U.S. GDP growth from 2004 through
2009 came from the Internet industry.
You've previously state that this legislation is intended to target "rogue" foreign
websites engaging in copyright infringement. While this is a laudable goal and one we
support, the SOPA's overly broad language, in its current form, would target legitimate
domestic websites, creating significant uncertainty for those in the technology and
venture capital industries.
As you know, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed into law in 1998, already includes
a notice-and-takedown process for both foreign and domestic infringing content.
Additionally, a carefully crafted safe harbor protection has enabled countless Silicon
Valley successes like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google. The SOPA overturns this
basic protection through broad, vague new standards of liability. The result will
be and explosion of innovation-killing lawsuits and litigation.
The impact on new businesses and startups, particularly small businesses, will be far
more detrimental. For example, venture capitalists will be hesitant to invest in new
Internet-based businesses if they fear their money will be tied up in litigation. As
prominent Silicon Valley investor Derek Parham explains,
"what used to be two guys in a garage coming up with and idea and starting
a company is now going to be two guys in a garage with four lawyers
behind them -- and that's not how the Valley really got started. People
shouldn't be fearful of getting sued out of oblivion when they
go create a new idea."
At a time of continued economic uncertainty, this legislation will result in fewer new
businesses, fewer new investments, and fewer new jobs. "Rogue websites" are no
doubt a serious problem and we fully support targeted measures to shut them down. Like
you, we understand the importance of combating piracy to protect the intellectual property
of the American entertainment industry from copyright infringement in other party of
the world. We believe this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. The SOPA
as written, however, is overly broad and would cause serious and long term damage to the
technology industry, one of the few bright spots in our economy.
We hope you will work with the technology community to find narrow and targeted remedies
against online infringers. We also stand ready to work with you and your colleagues
to find a solution that protects innovation, while combating against truly "rogue"
websites. Thank you in advance for your consideration of our views.
Sincerely,
Ron Paul
U.S. Member of Congress
Anna G. Eshoo
U.S. Member of Congress
Jared Polis
U.S. Member of Congress
Mike Doyle
U.S. Member of Congress
Doris O. Matsui
U.S. Member of Congress
Mike Tompson
U.S. Member of Congress
John Campbell
U.S. Member of Congress
Zop Lofgren
U.S. Member of Congress
Lloyd Doggett
U.S. Member of Congress
Mike Honda
U.S. Member of Congress
George Miller
U.S. Member of Congress
.
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