Mfarhanonline Social Media News: The White House has finally given a detailed explanation of its stance on the Stop Online Piracy Act ( SOPA ) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). In a blog post responding to a petition posted on the White House’s website, the Obama Administration clearly laid out what it would – and would not – support in any new legislation designed to combat online piracy. "While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response," said the note, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." Taken at face value, that sounds like a check in the “win” column for the opponents of SOPA/PIPA. But if the White House agrees that online piracy is a significant problem, what will they support to fix it? The White House’s post was chock-full of little details on what the administration wants from any future legislation on the issue. No Excessive Censorship or Curtailing of American Innovation “Any effort to combat online piracy,” read the post, “must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small.” Given the importance of the tech industry to the overall American economy, it’s no surprise that the Obama administration wants to be careful not to stifle digital innovation happening in the U.S. Later, the post goes on to say that any provision dealing with online businesses such as advertising companies, payment processors or search engines “must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firm! s from g rowing.” On one hand, this language could help assuage the fears of the tech industry, which has coalesced together around its near-unanimous disapproval of SOPA/PIPA. On the other, the White House is not suggesting that online businesses (like the payment processors or search engines mentioned above) should be exempt from digital piracy legislation. Owners of those kind of businesses may find that unsettling. Scope of Legislation The Obama administration said it will only accept a law which solely targets websites operating “beyond the reach of current U.S. law.” On first pass, that could be read in two ways: 1. Current law can’t target websites operating out of the U.S., so a new law should address foreign websites only. 2. A new law should address domestic websites which aren’t targeted by current American law. However, the White House goes on to explain that a new law should only cover “activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws.” That means the language about sites outside the reach of current U.S. law is more likely a call for legislation to combat infringement on foreign sites, not for sweeping new legislation to replace currently existing laws like the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). Precision & Understanding The White House doesn’t want a legislative sledgehammer that could be used to play “whack-a-mole” with reckless abandon against potentially infringing websites. Instead, it calls for a law that is “effectively tailored,” has regard for due process and is focused solely on outright criminal activity. That suggests a desire for more precise punishment mechanisms than those called for in SOPA/PIPA. It also demands of Congress a more intimate understanding of the Internet in general. That echoes a major complaint of the anti-SOPA crowd, who have found Congress to be less than adequately knowledgable about technology issues. Internet Security & Stability The White House is adamantly against interfe! ring wit h the Doman Name System (DNS), a sort of “phone book” for the Internet. It cites cybersecurity as a major concern, while noting that attempts to stop piracy through DNS mechanisms would fail outright. “We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet,” reads the post. “Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online.” Removing or rerouting infringing sites’ DNS requests was originally one the main punishment mechanisms in SOPA/PIPA, and the part of the bills considered most onerous by many in the tech community. However, the authors of both bills announced late last week that they would remove any provisions related to DNS. Non-Legislative Solutions The White House believes that online piracy isn’t just a matter to be dealt with in Congress. Instead, it feels that content creators and Internet businesses should figure out methods to deal with the problem on their own. “We expect and encourage,” said the post, “all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.” What “voluntary measures” and “best practices,” exactly? That’s left up to those with a stake in the issue to decide amongst themselves. Into The Future The White House rounds out the post by calling for public and open dialogue between the public and Congress on the issue of digital piracy. They invited the organizer of the petition and a few of its signees to a conference about online piracy. “Rather than just look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go from here? Don't limit your opinion to what's the wrong thing to do, ask yourself what's right.” And later in the post, “Washington! needs t o hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders.” The administration also calls for any future legislation to have vast bipartisan support. Where is SOPA now? Currently, SOPA sits on the legislative sidelines. The House resumes session this week, but according to The Guardian , House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told an anti-SOPA colleague that there would be no vote on the matter “unless there is consensus on the bill.” An anti-SOPA rally in New York is still being planned for Wednesday. Many popular websites, including Reddit and Wikipedia, will join in with a blackout in protest of SOPA. Mfarhanonline will be reporting from the scene. The MPAA, Hollywood’s lobbying organization, released a statement Friday in which it reaffirms its belief that neither SOPA nor PIPA infringe upon Americans’ freedom of speech. The White House statement was signed by Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget Victoria Espinel, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff Howard Schmidt. Do you agree with the White House’s requirements for digital piracy legislation? Let us know in the comments below. More About: barack obama , PIPA , SOPA , stop online piracy act , trending , White House Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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