Lawmakers want House Judiciary Committee to slow online piracy bill

Opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) urged House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to hold additional hearings on the bill rather than report it out of committee during a Dec 15 markup.

During a lively and lengthy markup featuring passionate arguments from both sides on the controversial online piracy legislation, opponents argued the committee has yet to hear from technical experts on the potential consequences of the bill for security and free speech. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) compared the bill to performing surgery on the Internet without having a doctor in the room and said the committee has moved far too quickly on such sweeping legislation. Google has emerged as one of the biggest corporate critics of SOPA with co-founder Sergey Brin now likening the proposal to Internet censorship practices in China and Iran. Brin took to the Google+ social networking site to post his opinion. He also opposes the Senate’s version of the measure, known as the Protect Intellectual Property Act. Supporters of SOPA, including Chairman Smith and Intellectual Property subpanel Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), argued a manager's amendment offered on Dec 12 addresses many of the concerns outlined by tech companies.

Ranking member John Conyers (D-MI) suggested opponents were trying to delay the legislation via roughly 60 amendments but said it wouldn't work. "If someone thinks a bill of this magnitude is going to stall because we got tired, they got the wrong think coming," Rep Conyers said.