[LINK] Beyond SOPA .. OPEN

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

The New York Times Editorial,  Jan 28, 2012. 

Beyond SOPA


We welcomed the collapse this month of two flawed bills to prevent online 
piracy, bills that could have stifled speech and undermined Internet 
safety. 

But piracy by Web sites in countries like Russia and China, which offer 
high-quality bootleg copies of movies and music, is a real problem for 
the nation’s creative industries. 

And there is legislation that could curb the operation of rogue Web sites 
without threatening legitimate expression. 

The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act, 
sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Darrell Issa, offers a 
straightforward and transparent approach to the problem. 

Content owners could ask the International Trade Commission to 
investigate whether a foreign Web site was dedicated to piracy. The Web 
site would be able to rebut the claim. 

If the commission ruled for the copyright holder, it could direct payment 
firms like Visa and PayPal and advertising networks like Google’s to stop 
doing business with the Web site. 

The bill addresses concerns of copyright holders that the process would 
be too slow to match the pirates’ speed. It would allow them to request 
temporary restraining orders when there is urgency to, say, stop a 
Russian Web site from illegally streaming the Super Bowl. That Web site 
would still have a chance to respond, but it would have to move more 
quickly to make its case. 

The OPEN Act also avoids some of the pitfalls of the previous bills. The 
legislation backed by movie studios and record labels would have 
penalized Web sites accused of the vague crimes of enabling or assisting 
piracy. 

OPEN would penalize only Web sites dedicated “willfully and primarily” to 
the infringement of copyrights or trademarks, a well-established standard 
used in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to prevent domestic piracy. 

OPEN would not give copyright holders the authority to direct payment 
processors and ad networks to stop doing business with a given Web site: 
that would have opened a door for abuse. 

And the Justice Department would not be able to “disappear” rogue Web 
sites by tinkering with their addresses — a provision too much like 
hacking, which worried safety experts. 

By giving the International Trade Commission sole authority to determine 
infringement, OPEN would also prevent copyright holders from shopping 
around for sympathetic courts, making the process more consistent and 
less likely to spark trade conflicts and retaliatory moves. 

The new bill may not be perfect; some Web sites that aid or abet pirates 
may avoid punishment. But it gives copyright holders powerful new tools 
to protect themselves. And it goes a long way toward addressing the 
concerns of Internet companies, protecting legitimate expression on the 
Web from overzealous content owners. 

The two sides need to move beyond their resentments and push for its 
passage. 

--

Cheers,
Stephen