Media companies say piracy is costing them billions of dollars per year and killing jobs. Technology companies, including Facebook and Google, say such laws censor the internet and choke innovation.
On Saturday the White House appeared to side with the tech companies.
“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet,” the White House said in a blog post.
The comments prompted News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch to make his first public comments on the issue.
“So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,” Mr Murdoch wrote on his new Twitter account. “Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying.”
In fact, the entertainment industry is outspending Silicon Valley in lobbying efforts, said Alan Webber, an analyst with the Altimeter Group.
Internet companies, including many start-ups and “hacktivists”, have instead taken their protests directly to consumers in grassroots campaigns online.
Anonymous, the online activist group, recently made public personal details of media executives including Time Warner chief executive Jeff Bewkes, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, and other supporters of the new anti-piracy legislation.
“[Stop Online Piracy Act] is the first step limiting what you watch online and allowing the government to know what you watch online,” Anonymous said in one of the postings.
Hundreds of websites have called for large and small internet companies to participate in an online “blackout”, so when internet users try to visit popular sites, they will be greeted with a black screen and a Stop SOPA message encouraging them to write to their representatives and ask them to block the legislation.
More than 19,000 people have changed their Twitter profile pictures to a “Stop SOPA” image.
Lawmakers have been scurrying in the wake of the protests, calling for additional hearings to discuss the technical issues of the bills, then cancelling them, or vowing to add amendments that would require impact studies before implementation.
The Senate is scheduled to debate the Protect IP Act on January 24. Politicians are likely to delay any vote until after the 2012 election in November.
“I will be amazed if they actually passed anything this year,” Mr Webber said. “There is no way that any Congress member is going to give their opponent ammunition for an election battle for something like SOPA.”
(Source: Financial Times)
