Tech groups say online piracy bill would create 'nightmare' for Web and social media firms

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A new online piracy bill unveiled in the House last week would stifle innovation and create a regulatory nightmare for Web and social media firms, according to three prominent technology industry advocacy groups.

NetCoalition, the Consumer Electronics Association and the Computer and Communications Industry Association sent a letter to members of Congress voicing their opposition to the Stop Online Privacy Act, which was unveiled last week by members of the House Judiciary Committee. The bill authorizes the Justice Department to seek injunctions against "rogue" websites that dedicated to providing access to pirated goods or content. Controversially, the legislation would allow the government and rights holders to demand that third parties, including payment processors and online ad networks, cut ties with such sites. "As currently drafted, we believe SOPA is an alarming step backwards in Internet policy creating a thicket of Internet regulations containing 16 new legal definitions for evolving Internet technology," the groups argue. The groups argue the bill would undermine the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and create new risk of litigation for cloud service providers, social networks, and other new technologies that merely have the potential of being misused by customers.


Tech groups say online piracy bill would create 'nightmare' for Web and social media firms