Senator Coons Admits That SOPA 'Really Did Pose Some Risk To The Internet'
from the a-little-late-for-that dept
See update at the bottom.A few folks have been sending over a recent article from Hillicon Valley, in which Senator Chris Coons, a co-sponsor of PIPA admits that SOPA "really did pose some risk to the internet."
Coons said it was "truly memorable" when one of his sons shook him awake and asked "why I wanted to break the Internet and why Justin Bieber thought I should go to jail."Of course, I think that some folks are a little confused by this. The issue with Bieber wasn't actually about PIPA at all. Instead, Coons had directly sponsored (along with Senator Amy Klobuchar) a different bill, S.978, which would have made a felony out of certain forms of online streaming. This was at the center of the FreeBieber campaign, which was actually separate from PIPA (which was S.968). While the House version of SOPA pulled in similar language, PIPA was always separate from S.978. Coons, though, was a co-sponsor of PIPA as well. It's a little unclear from the context if Coons was really talking about S.968 or S.978 in what was quoted above.
The pop star had suggested that supporters of the Protect IP Act should be arrested after a campaign against the bill had claimed it could result in Bieber going to jail for singing songs that belonged to other artists.
"That was my first warning that we were not communicating effectively," Coons said. He added that he believes some elements of SOPA "overreached" and "really did pose some risk to the Internet."
Either way, it seems worth pointing out that, if it takes your kid to clue you in to the fact that you were pushing for legislation that "really did pose some risk to the internet," perhaps you shouldn't be putting forth that legislation in the first place. It certainly makes it clear that he didn't understand what he was supporting.
One hopes that Coons (and, really, all our elected officials) will use this as an opportunity to realize that jumping into regulating the internet without realizing what the hell they're doing is a mistake that should not be repeated. In the meantime, it looks like Coons may be trying to make amends to the tech community, and is now co-sponsoring the new Startup Act, which would provide a significant boost to entrepreneurs and startups by easing immigration laws for both entrepreneurs and highly skilled engineering students, allowing them to stay in the US where they can build companies that create jobs, rather than going back to their home countries to compete against Americans.
Update: Posted a slight clarification, as some insist that he was only speaking about SOPA -- the House bill, rather than PIPA, the Senate bill he co-sponsored. While the two bills were distinct, there were significant similarities -- especially on the key points that would have "posed some risk to the internet." If Senator Coons is making a material distinction between the two bills, that suggests he still doesn't understand the two bills he supported in the Senate and how they, too, had significant problems.
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Filed Under: amy klobuchar, chris coons, justin bieber, pipa, sopa, streaming
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Clueless
Thats OK he didnt know either.
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Re: Clueless
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I'm afraid not. Our elected officials will stay loyal to the money that got them their seat.
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Where were the industry experts?
Except, of course, these same experts were specifically excluded from every part of the debate.
It's not so much that they didn't know about the consequences, it's that they willfully excluded anyone who could've told them about the consequences.
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not to nitpic, but they will very much be competing against Americans. But that is the point of the bill. THey will be competing with American, Eurpean, Asian, worldwide companies... as companies / employees based in the US.
the competition is desired, it is the location they are trying to change.
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Re:
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Re: Re:
I want them to stay, if that is what they want. i was saying the intention of the bill is to make it easier for them to be here and work, which is a good thing.
but this is capitalism, so even if they stay and become americans they will still be competing against americans. but it is that competition that they are promoting.
it was just a nitpic on the wording in the article. not the grand political statement you seem to think it was.
sheesh.
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Re:
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Maybe we need to start defining "public" on the job advertisement?
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Re:
Seriously, you need to stop with the "Techdirt is the pirate anti-christ" position already. This is one blog among many. Spitting into the wind here does nothing to stop more and more people from realizing that current copyright, trademark, and patent laws in various countries are crazy. Most of us figured that out on our own and are just here for the news.
(Also, no one is responsible for the mass confusion that is the human brain under the age of 15. Confused and misinformed is the default state of kids that age, which the existence of the internet has only somewhat improved.)
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Groan!
You can't even admit to you bloody selves that the country you want is long gone and what you're left with is bullshit.
Admitting the problem is the first step!
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Re: Groan!
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/sarc
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Re:
On the pro-SOPA/PIPA side, they used quite a bit of hyperbole, but were stating it as fact. Big difference.
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/sarc
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And once again
And once again, we see a politician confusing the tech industry with the tech community. And even within the tech industry, easing immigration laws for engineers is not a slam-dunk PR win. It's a very controversial topic.
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Which parts of SOPA did NOT overreach?
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Things everyone can learn from an Evil Overlord:
12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.
Srsly, maybe it's the rarefied air up there in DC, but there are times when I wonder where our congress-critters put their think-pans.
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Perhaps you and your collegues should check with your Internet literate children next time you decide to break the Internet to ensure that Jollywood's latest nightmares about piracy don't corner you into doing something stupid.
I'm sure your children would be more than happy to give you a course on the use of the Internet and Web one weekend. ;-)
Or, as yours did, in the middle of the night!
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