Changes

'''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' or '''H.R. 3261''' is a bipartisan bill introduced at the United States House of Representatives by  Congressman [[Lamar Smith]], House Judiciary Committee Chairman  and co-sponsored by 31 other Representatives including '''John Conyers''' (D-Mich.), '''Bob Goodlatte''' (R-Va.) and '''Howard Berman''' (D-Calif.) on June 26, 2011.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/house-introduces-internet-piracy-bill/2011/10/26/gIQA0f5xJM_blog.html House introduces Internet piracy bill]</ref> The bill aims to promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes such as intellectual property rights  protection of U.S. businesses particularly in the film, music and software industry against online piracy and counterfeiting.<ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf The Bill-H.R. 3261]</ref>  

'''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' or '''H.R. 3261''' is a bipartisan bill introduced at the United States House of Representatives by  Congressman [[Lamar Smith]], House Judiciary Committee Chairman  and co-sponsored by 31 other Representatives including '''John Conyers''' (D-Mich.), '''Bob Goodlatte''' (R-Va.) and '''Howard Berman''' (D-Calif.) on June 26, 2011.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/house-introduces-internet-piracy-bill/2011/10/26/gIQA0f5xJM_blog.html House introduces Internet piracy bill]</ref> The bill aims to promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes such as intellectual property rights  protection of U.S. businesses particularly in the film, music and software industry against online piracy and counterfeiting.<ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf The Bill-H.R. 3261]</ref>  

A legislative hearing was conducted by the House Judiciary Committee on November 16, 2011 to examine the various issues related to proposed Stop Online Piracy Act.<ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_11162011.html Committee on the Judiciary-Hearing Information]</ref> According to the statement released by Cong. Lamar Smith, the bill is not targeting technology but it is concentrated on ''"preventing those who engage in criminal behavior from reaching directly into the U.S. market to harm American consumers."'' He pointed out that ''"protecting America’s intellectual property will help the country's economy, create jobs, and discourage illegal websites."'' <ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/news/Statement%20HR%203261.html Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith Hearing on H.R. 3261, the “Stop Online Piracy Act”]</ref> A full committee mark-up on the was held on Dec. 15, 2011.<ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/mark_12152011.html Mark-up Information]</ref>

A legislative hearing was conducted by the House Judiciary Committee on November 16, 2011 to examine the various issues related to proposed Stop Online Piracy Act.<ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_11162011.html Committee on the Judiciary-Hearing Information]</ref> According to the statement released by Cong. Lamar Smith, the bill is not targeting technology but it is concentrated on ''"preventing those who engage in criminal behavior from reaching directly into the U.S. market to harm American consumers."'' He pointed out that ''"protecting America’s intellectual property will help the country's economy, create jobs, and discourage illegal websites."'' <ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/news/Statement%20HR%203261.html Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith Hearing on H.R. 3261, the “Stop Online Piracy Act”]</ref>

 

A full committee mark-up was held on Dec. 15, 2011 and lawmakers rejected 20 amendments intended to address the concerns raised by technology companies and civil liberty organizations most particularly the amendments introduced by Cong. Darrel Issa, which aims to resolve the [[DNS]] security problems. The committee also rejected theamendment requiring copyright holders to pay for all court costs if the accused violator of copy right infringement wins legal charges. The proposed amendment to remove the provision providing legal immunity to [[ISP]]s, domain name registrars, payment processors, and other businesses that voluntarily take action against accused websites was also rejected. <ref>[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/mark_12152011.html Mark-up Information]</ref> <ref>[http://www.pcworld.com/article/246354/house_committee_appears_headed_toward_approving_sopa.html House Committee Appears Headed Toward Approving SOPA]</ref>

On December 16, 2009, the House Judiciary Committee postponed the hearing on the proposed legislation because of strong oppositions from internet engineers, cyber security experts, large technology companies and other organizations. According to Cong. Smith, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and proponent of the bill, he will consider a hearing or a classified briefing to tackle the impact of SOPA on cybersecurity. Congressman Jason Chaffetz from Utah stressed that it is imperative for the legislators to hear from internet engineers and cybersecurity experts before voting for the final passage of the bill.<ref>[http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/246433/house_committee_postpones_action_on_sopa.html House Committee Postpones Action on SOPA]</ref>

   

   

==Provisions==

==Provisions==

===Vinton Cerf Statement Against SOPA===

===Vinton Cerf Statement Against SOPA===

Vinton Cerf, former chairman of the [[ICANN|Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers]] and considered as one of the fathers of internet sent his letter of opposition to Cong. Smith regarding SOPA. In his letter, stressed that certain provisions of the proposed legislation is problematic particularly the site blocking. According to him, ''"These will undermine the architecture of the Internet and obstruct the 15 year effort by the public and private sectors to improve cybersecurity through implementation of [[DNSSEC]], a critical set of extensions designed to address security vulnerabilities in the [[DNS]]."'' In addition, he also emphasized that the bill would result to an ''"a worldwide arms race of unprecedented censorship of the Web."'' Furthermore, Cerf encouraged the Congress to create a more effective and tailored legislative actions that will focus on the "follow-the-money" tactic or cutting the ability of illegal foreign websites to generate advertising revenue and to process payments.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57344028-281/vint-cerf-sopa-means-unprecedented-censorship-of-the-web/ Vint Cerf: SOPA means 'unprecedented censorship' of the Web]</ref>

Vinton Cerf, former chairman of the [[ICANN|Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers]] and considered as one of the fathers of internet sent his letter of opposition to Cong. Smith regarding SOPA. In his letter, stressed that despite the amendments on certain provisions of the proposed SOPA, the bill is still problematic particularly the issues on site blocking. According to him, ''"These will undermine the architecture of the Internet and obstruct the 15 year effort by the public and private sectors to improve cybersecurity through implementation of [[DNSSEC]], a critical set of extensions designed to address security vulnerabilities in the [[DNS]]."'' In addition, he also emphasized that the bill would result to an ''"a worldwide arms race of unprecedented censorship of the Web."'' Furthermore, Cerf encouraged the Congress to create a more effective and tailored legislative actions that will focus on the "follow-the-money" tactic or cutting the ability of illegal foreign websites to generate advertising revenue and to process payments.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57344028-281/vint-cerf-sopa-means-unprecedented-censorship-of-the-web/ Vint Cerf: SOPA means 'unprecedented censorship' of the Web]</ref>

===Lawmakers Against SOPA===

===Lawmakers Against SOPA===