Remember SOPA? Dead in Congress, it's back- in the TPP
The Stop Online Piracy Act created a ferocious opposition. It was draconian and wildly unpopular, in large part because it had the potential to sharply limit fair use.
A brief review courtesy of Wiki:
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a United States bill introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Provisions included the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and search engines from linking to the websites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the websites. The proposed law would have expanded existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
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Opponents claimed that the proposed legislation threatened free speech and innovation, and enabled law enforcement to block access to entire Internet domains due to infringing content posted on a single blog or webpage. They also claimed that SOPA would bypass the "safe harbor" protections from liability presently afforded to websites by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Some library associations also claimed that the legislation's emphasis on stronger copyright enforcement would expose libraries to prosecution. Other opponents claimed that requiring search engines to delete domain names violated the First Amendment and could begin a worldwide arms race of unprecedented Internet censorship.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
Now look who President Obama nominated as Deputy USTR:
February 27, 2014
This morning, President Obama nominated Robert Holleyman as deputy US trade representative. If confirmed by the US Senate, Holleyman will help lead the effort to pass the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Notably, Holleyman is a former lobbyist who led efforts to pass the Stop Online Piracy Act legislation, better known as SOPA, when he was leader of the business software Alliance. The SOPA debate (along with its sister legislation, PROTECT-IP, in the Senate) brought a spotlight on industry efforts to undermine Internet freedom through what many considered to be draconian intellectual property policy.
Critics have pointed out, the leaked TPP documents relating to TPP negotiations reveal that the United States is seeking to resurrect portions of the SOPA bill through the TPP, namely, holding internet service providers liable for hosting copyright infringement and extending the copyright life of certain corporate-owned copyrights. As Susan Sell, a professor of political science at George Washington University, noted, the proposed TPP provisions suggest the deal will advance intellectual property rules that "could not [be] achieved through an open and democratic process."
During the SOPA debate, Holleyman was chief executive of the Business software Alliance, a trade group for software companies including IBM. Holleyman commended then–Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith for his work in sponsoring SOPA and for pushing for its passage. In 2012, as the bill worked its way through Congress, the BSA spent over $1.6 million on lobbying. After widespread outrage against the bill, which eventually failed, BSA withdrew official support and sought similar policy changes through other legislation.
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http://www.thenation.com/blog/178575/obama-nominates-sopa-lobbyist-tpp-trade-post
SOPA and the TPP
Fight for the Future formed in the lead up to fight the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in 2012. Aiming to combat copyright infringement, those acts were promoted by Hollywood entertainment companies to censor websites caught broadcasting their content.
However, the legislation would have enabled law enforcement to wield much larger powers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation explains:
“Although the bills were ostensibly aimed at reaching foreign websites dedicated to providing illegal content, their provisions would allow for removal of enormous amounts of non-infringing content including political and other speech from the Web.”
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There is a direct line from SOPA to the TPP. Some of the same Hollywood lobbying firms that helped to write legislation and promote SOPA are now working on the Internet copyright chapter of the TPP, according to Greer. These firms include the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America.
“Essentially, after SOPA they realized they were never going to be able to get these draconian laws passed publically, so they’ve been trying to get them pushed into these secretive trade agreements,” Greer said.
More:
http://www.mintpressnews.com/the-tpp-could-curtail-internet-freedom-national-sovereignty-free-open-internet/205383/
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