EU Politicians Send Letter To US Congress Warning Of 'Extraterritorial Effects' Of SOPA And PIPA

from the trouble-ahead dept

Since SOPA and PIPA are US bills, the focus has naturally been on the US response to them – notably in the list of major sites that participated in the blackout, or who have otherwise protested against the proposed legislation. But it's important to remember that the whole rationale of these new laws is tackling copyright infringement outside the US.

A letter to the US Congress, written by a group of European Parliamentarians worried about the "extraterritorial effects" of SOPA and PIPA, offers a different perspective on the bills. For example, it leads with a reference to the EU-US Summit, held in Washington on 28 November 2011 - probably something ignored by most people at the time and since. Here's what the letter says:

The European Parliament, in its joint motion for a resolution on the EU-US Summit of 28 November 2011, objects the proposed legislation by stating:

"Stresses the need to protect the integrity of the global internet and freedom of communication by refraining from unilateral measures to revoke IP addresses or domain names;"

The joint statement (pdf) of that Summit had the following section about the Internet:

We share a commitment to a single, global Internet, and will resist unilateral efforts to weaken the security, reliability, or independence of its operations — recognizing that respect for fundamental freedoms online, and joint efforts to strengthen security, are mutually reinforcing.

SOPA and PIPA threaten to cut right across that commitment.

Most of the letter goes over the by-now fairly well-known deficits of the bills, but also points out a particular issue for Europe:

Companies wishing to offer online services will be forced to monitor all communication on their platforms and filter anything which could possibly be an infringement of IPR. The methods of monitoring would almost certainly challenge people's fundamental rights. Considering the world wide character of the internet, European companies will be forced to adhere to US standards to prevent DNS blocking. Article 15 of the European E-Commerce Directive prohibits obligations for the general monitoring of their services. The European Court of Justice has recently ruled in the Scarlet/SABAM case that monitoring and filtering of communication online is a breach of fundamental rights such as privacy, freedom of communication and freedom of information and should not be applied to halt infringements of IPR.

It's not clear how that clash between jurisdictions would be resolved: if online services in Europe monitor all communications, they will be breaching European law; if they don't, they may run foul of SOPA/PIPA. Inevitable legal incompatibilities between the two jurisdictions are also hinted at at the close of the letter:

Concluding, SOPA and PROTECT IP will create tensions across the Atlantic in a time where we need to work more closely together. We ask you to vote against SOPA and PROTECT IP and to work with us on effective laws, which enable a fair remuneration of artists and creators online, without violating fundamental rights or fragmenting the free and open internet as we know it. We also believe in close cooperation in promoting internet freedom world wide, in line with our foreign policy objectives.

It's true that the number of politicians signing the letter is small, so its impact is likely to be correspondingly weak, but it seems that Europe's top politicians are also starting to wake up to SOPA and PIPA, as this report on EurActiv indicates:

Ryan Heath, spokesperson for the EU's digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes, told EurActiv that the EU executive was closely monitoring the developments in the US.

"Today's protest clearly shows that digital issues are now mainstream political issues," Heath said.

"While we acknowledge the importance of combating illegal content online, the means to achieve this objective must be effective, proportionate and preserve the advantages of an open Internet. We expect the extra-territorial impacts of any US legislation would be minimised."

Good luck with that.

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Filed Under: eu, jurisdiction, pipa, protect ip, sopa

DOJ Gives Its Opinion On SOPA By Unilaterally Shutting Down 'Foreign Rogue Site' Megaupload... Without SOPA/PIPA

from the screw-you-all----we're-the-doj dept

If you've been paying attention to the MPAA/US Chamber of Commerce/RIAA claims about why they need PIPA/SOPA, a key argument is that they need it to go after these "foreign rogue sites" that cannot be reached under existing US law. Among the most prominent sites often talked about is Megaupload -- which accounts for a huge percentage of the "rogue site traffic" that the US Chamber of Commerce and other bill supporters love to cite. However, it certainly appears that the US Justice Department and ICE don't think they need any new law to go after people in foreign countries over claims of criminal copyright infringement. As lots of folks are currently digesting, the Justice Department, along with ICE, have shut down the site and arrested many of the principles (with the help of New Zealand law enforcement) and charged them with massive amounts of criminal copyright infringement.

Of course, just last week, we had noted that Megaupload was immune from SOPA/PIPA because it doesn't apply to dot coms -- but this is still interesting and crazy for a whole variety of reasons:

• ICE and DOJ have a pretty freaking dreadful record so far in bringing these kinds of cases for online copyright infringement. It's kind of amazing that they did this so soon after they totally screwed up and had to give back Dajaz1 (without an apology, by the way). Megaupload may be a different type of site... but, still...
• Similar cyberlockers, like RapidShare, have already been declared legal in both Europe and the US. I don't know the details of Megaupload's situation -- and certainly its founder has a... um... colorful history... but it seems pretty extreme to totally shut down the site prior to any adversarial hearing.
• In the last few days and months, Megaupload had announced plans to help artists make more money... and had announced that very successful and famous music producer Swizz Beatz had become CEO of Megaupload. Beatz is also married to recording superstar Alicia Keys and was responsible for getting all those RIAA artists to endorse Megaupload. All indications were that the company was clearly building a legitimate system for artists to make money and fans to get content. And it seemed that many artists clearly supported the site.
• So why do we need SOPA/PIPA again? It seems like the DOJ/ICE just undermined the key argument of the MPAA/RIAA/US CoC for why they need these laws. After all, Megaupload was one of the key examples used for why the law was needed.
• At the same time there are huge questions about why the government is involved here. Megaupload is currently engaged in a lawsuit in the US -- and contrary to claims of SOPA/PIPA supporters, the company seemed more than willing to appear in court to deal with civil copyright claims. Why leap to criminal claims?
• Is this really the message the US DOJ and White House want to be giving the day after mass, widespread protests happened concerning a fear that this new law would be used to take down websites? Honestly, this is a big "fuck you" to the protestors, showing that the government already has this power thanks to the last law they passed: ProIP (which they promised they'd never abuse).
• The indictment itself -- embedded below -- is so full of hyperbole ("Mega Conspiracy") it sounds like it was written by the entertainment industry itself...

Anyway, I'm sure we'll have much more to say about all of this... but wow is the timing dumb on the government's part. Not only does it undermine the argument for PIPA/SOPA, but it raises significant questions about whether or not the feds already have too much censorship power.

Filed Under: copyright, criminal copyright, cyberlockers, doj, fbi, foreign rogue sites, ice, indictment, kim dotcom, pipa, protect ip, seiruzes, sopa, swizz beatz
Companies: megaupload

RIAA Takes MPAA's Condescending Response To Protests Up A Notch

from the true-colors dept

If you thought that the MPAA's obnoxious, tone-deaf and out-of-touch response to the SOPA/PIPA protest blackouts was ridiculous, it appears that Jonathan Lamy, VP of Communications for the RIAA, wanted to take things up a notch by obnoxiously tweeting that perhaps students would be better off with Wikipedia down for the day:

After Wikipedia blackrout, somewhere, a student today is doing original research and getting his/her facts straight. Perish the thought.

Lamy apparently realized what a pompous jerk that made him sound like... and removed the tweet -- but thankfully, the good folks over at Gizmodo already had saved a screenshot, which you now see above.

The MPAA and the RIAA have never been good about doing any kind of communication with "the public." They're just not set up for that kind of thing. They communicate with elected officials and with the press. And that's about the extent of it. Of course, in this situation, where the public is actually paying attention to them... all they're doing is showing off their true colors: condescending, entitled, spoiled brats who are seriously pissed off they're not getting their way. Boo-freaking-hoo.

Filed Under: blackouts, condescension, jonathan lamy, pipa, protect ip, protests, sopa
Companies: riaa

Are Democrats About To Lose An Entire Generation Of Voters By Pushing PIPA/SOPA Forward?

from the do-they-not-understand dept

I've talked, in great detail, how the SOPA/PIPA debate has been a non-partisan discussion. It's not bi-partisan and it's not partisan. It's just non-partisan. The debate has nothing to do with traditional Democrat or Republican lines. This has confused cable news, who has a script to follow, but doesn't know what to do with strange bedfellows. However, some people have noticed an interesting thing in the response to yeseterdays' protests: it was mostly Republicans who moved decisively away from PIPA and SOPA. While a few Democrats did so, many took hedging steps -- saying they "heard concerns" and would "work to fix" things -- but still supporting the bill. This is -- quite reasonably -- infuriating internet savvy Democrats who point out that the party is on the verge of losing an entire younger generation by supporting not just this legislation, but the corrupt process that created it:

If you keep reading that story, the Democrats listed all remain adamant that they'll remain co-sponsors of the legislation but work to "fix it".

Bullshit.

It's been a while since we've seen Democrats this tone deaf, this oblivious to political reality.

You have an entire wired generation focused on this issue like a laser, fighting like hell to protect their online freedoms, and it's FUCKING REPUBLICANS who are playing the heroes by dropping support?

Those goddam Democrats would rather keep collecting their Hollywood checks, than heed the will of millions of Americans who have lent their online voice in an unprecedented manner.

Are they really this stupid? Can they really be this idiotic?

Indeed. Even worse, there are rumors that the White House itself may flip flop on its earlier statements, and pretend that any "new" deal meets the standard it set with last week's announcement. If true, it seems that the White House and the Democratic Party are making the bet that young people really aren't paying attention to this issue. It seems to me that that's a huge miscalculation on their part.

Those pushing for this quick solution don't seem to have understood the protests yesterday. They weren't protesting this bill per se. They were protesting the entire process through which these bills were made. Using the same backroom dealing to come out with another bill... and pretend that "all stakeholders" had been heard from and were in agreement seems like a very, very dangerous position to stake out.

Over the last few years, the Democrats have been considered the party who "got" the internet much more than the Republicans. Is that about to switch?

Filed Under: democrats, internet generation, partisan politics, pipa, protect ip, republicans, sopa

Hollywood Studio Execs Upset That President Obama Didn't Stay Bought; Insist They Won't Donate More

from the bye-bye dept

Apparently, some Hollywood studio execs are so annoyed by the White House's statement against the current drafts of SOPA/PIPA that they're telling the press that they won't donate to President Obama's re-election campaign:

But Hollywood moguls told me they “didn’t know it was going to be as over the top as it was” and took this as a declaration of war. “We just feel very let down by the administration and Obama for not supporting us,” one studio chief explained to me. “At least let him remain neutral and not go against it until we can get the legislation right. But Obama went against it. I’m personally not going to support him anymore and not give a dime anymore,” another movie mogul who’s also a well-known Obama supporter told me this week.

There are many, many more quotes in the article, each one more jaw dropping than the next. Take this one, for example:

“God knows how much money we’ve given to Obama and the Democrats and yet they’re not supporting our interests. There’s been no greater supporters of him than we’ve been from the first day and the first fundraisers continuing until he was elected. We all were pleased. And, at its heart institutionally, Hollywood supports the Democrats. Now we need the administration to support us. This is a very important time for Hollywood.

This is yet another tone deaf response from Hollywood, of course. First, it shows exactly what they thought of this whole process: donate enough money and of course they expect the government to pass unnecessary, damaging, protectionist laws that favor the big donors. Making such an admission publicly... that's pretty dumb. Second, it appears they're ignoring the talking points about what a wonderful statement it was... and how it really meant we should just move forward with the current bills (despite the statement saying exactly the opposite).

Either way, these guys are living in denial. The article repeatedly quotes them blaming Google for this... and includes my favorite ridiculous quote of all:

As for other claims, we make 24. We don’t make national security problems.

Let's add back in the key point that this "mogul" missed: You make 24. You don't understand technology. You don't understand internet security. Your pointless desire to stop innovation does create national security problems. Just because you're ignorant of why doesn't change what the law you support would have done.

Either way, what a massive sense of entitlement from those folks from old Hollywood/old politics. When they buy a President, they like their President to stay bought, dammit. They don't want him listening to actual concerns and worrying about the consequences of the quixotic obsessions.

Filed Under: campaign finance, hollywood, obama, pipa, protect ip, sopa, studio execs

Hollywood Film Editor Gives Detailed Explanation For Why Hollywood Shouldn't Support SOPA/PIPA

from the nicely-done dept

Marta Evry, a successful freelance film editor who's worked on Castle, House and many other shows and movies -- and who is a member of the IATSE union, one of the unions supporting SOPA/PIPA -- has written a very thorough, very detailed, and totally worth reading explanation of why she cannot support SOPA/PIPA. It's quite well written and thought out. She points out that she is, clearly, directly impacted by piracy in that her living is made from working on content that is frequently infringed upon. She also demonstrates the potential limitations of existing law that SOPA/PIPA supporters insist are the problems that require such new bills. However, she then goes into great detail on the problems in the bills, and explains why she can't support them. Honestly, it may be the most thorough, convincing, and detailed takedown I've seen of the bills -- and from a Hollywood insider whose union supports the bills.

How is this possible? Because the divide over SOPA/PIPA isn't political, it's between those who understand how the internet works and those who don't, those who see opportunities for growth and innovation and those who fear change and are holding on to old business models for dear life.

Seriously. Just go read the whole thing.

Filed Under: film editor, hollywood, pipa, protect ip, sopa

Jon Stewart Now Knows About SOPA/PIPA... And He's Not Impressed

from the hello-fair-use dept

Remember how, based on an audience question, Jon Stewart promised to study up on SOPA/PIPA for a future show. Looks like that happened. And, apparently, he did his homework before Wednesday, so he could actually use Wikipedia. In last night's show, Stewart used yesterday's blackouts and protests as a jumping off point to discuss the bill. There were two main points: (1) Congress is trying to pass laws about an internet they don't understand at all, and (2) fair use is incredibly important, and anything that potentially damages fair use is dangerous to culture. For the first point, he played some clips of Rep. Mel Watt proudly displaying his ignorance of technology -- and then points out that Watt is the ranking member on the IP sub-committee. He also mocks the calls during the markup from various Congressional Reps. to have a hearing with "the nerds" by reminding them that it's not "nerds" they're looking for... it's experts. Something in short supply in Congress. For the second point, he ably uses a ton of short clips, fair use style, to demonstrate how important fair use is to a show like his... while mocking Viacom and its own lawyers for trying to limit fair use. Good stuff all around. And yes, for those people who live in foreign countries that don't have a deal with Viacom, I apologize that you can't see the video below. It's just one more example of how Viacom encourages infringement by not giving people what they want.

Filed Under: blackouts, copyright, fair use, jon stewart, mel watt, pipa, protect ip, protests, sopa, the daily show
Companies: viacom

8 Million People Looked Up Their Elected Officials' Contact Info During Wikipedia Blackout

from the 4.5-million-signed-google-petition dept

Think the blackouts were just a "publicity stunt" that didn't wake up the American people to a serious problem with the legislative process? Wikipedia has now revealed that an astounding eight million people used its tool to look up their elected officials' contact info. It's not yet clear how many actually called, but some information on calls is starting to come out, and it sure sounds like a lot of people called. We heard from multiple Senate staffers that the phones -- both in DC and back home in the district offices -- were ringing non-stop with complaints about the bill. Our own calling widget, care of Engine Advocacy, got a tremendous amount of usage -- including over 2,000 phone calls per minute at peak calling times. Meanwhile, Google's online petition scored 4.5 million signatures... and that's the number that was reported earlier in the day. I'm sure it was higher by the end of the day. Anyone think this isn't a mainstream issue yet? More importantly, can anyone explain why various Senators still want to move forward with this bill?

Filed Under: blackouts, democracy, pipa, protect ip, protests, sopa
Companies: google, wikipedia

A Gallery Of The SOPA Blackout Protest Screens.

from the mr-smith-takes-over-the-internet dept

Needless to say, there's a pretty big protest going on right now against SOPA, with many sites either shuttering fully or making obvious changes in support of the protests. Leading the charge are Wikipedia, Reddit and Google. Sites like SOPA STRIKE and SOPA Blackout disseminated code to allow sites to easily join the blackout, but many sites have actually decided to take the time to tailor their protests for their own sites, which is amazing to see. It is this creative energy that drives the Internet and makes it what it is (for better or worse), and it is this very energy that legislation like SOPA and PIPA threaten to extinguish.

I've created a gallery of SOPA blackout screencaps, but here are some of my favorite takes on the protest today:

Reddit's blackout is probably the most complete; all URLs, including deep links, on Reddit lead to the blackout page, which is very impressive for such a largely trafficked site. For Redditor's going through Reddit-withdrawal today, they feature a handy countdown timer on their blackout page.


Wikipedia's blackout encompasses all of the English site, and as evidenced by @herpderpedia (who is collecting various angry Tweets about the Wikipedia blackout), it is certainly causing some frustration (and hopefully some awareness). That said, Wikipedia's blackout is very, very, very easy to thwart (just hit the ESC key before the page fully loads), so there's an easy escape valve for those that are in dire need of its content. In that same vein, Craigslist's full blackout also has a release valve that gracefully loads after a few seconds.

Google promised that it would do "something," and followed suit with a Google Doodle, essentially blacking out its logo in protest. Several sites followed suit, including Hacker News, 4chan's /b/ (link to a SFW screenshot), and TwitPic.

Taking the "censor-style" protest to the next level are Wired's blackout and Daily Kos' blackout. Wired's coders decided to mark up the page itself with black censor boxes, so that the page looks like it's been through the hands of some very aggressive government censors. Very clever from the design-minded folks over at Wired.


Elegant as always, xkcd's blackout offers the simple message, "[don't censor the web]".

And, the most amusing blackout of the day comes from McSweeney's (of course), who has handily replaced its site today with "A DAY’S WORTH OF FACTS TO GET YOU THROUGH WIKIPEDIA’S 24-HOUR BLACKOUT."


Check out the full gallery here, and let me know if there are any awesome blackout implementations that I've missed.

Filed Under: blackout, censorship, copyright, google, pipa, protect ip, reddit, sopa, wikipedia, wired

Best Congressional Response To SOPA Yet? Rep. Bruce Braley Takes To *CENSORED* To Explain His *CENSORED*

from the you-win-1000-internets dept

Lots of folks in Congress have been speaking out about SOPA and PIPA today -- and what's fascinating is how many of them are actually using key internet innovations to do so. Most of the comments we've seen were first made on Twitter and Facebook. But the best response (and by best, we mean funniest) response we've seen today comes from Rep. Bruce Braley from Iowa. You just have to watch the video to see:

Filed Under: blackouts, bruce braley, pipa, protect ip, protests, sopa