> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
U.S. Rep. Todd Young said Wednesday he has “serious concerns about the possibility of free speech being stifled” through Internet piracy protection bills being considered by Congress.
Two companion bills are being proposed to combat online piracy of American products and services with a focus on battling overseas operations that are selling copyright protected material without permission. The House version of the legislation is dubbed the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. The Senate measure is called the Protect Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA.
But there’s been an uproar led by online companies such as Wikipedia, Facebook and Google over the legislation, as those opposed to the measures say the federal government would overstep its boundaries and limit free speech by passing the bills.
Young, a Republican representing Indiana’s 9th District, said he was encouraged that a portion of the act allowing Domain Name System blocking on suspected piracy websites was agreed to be removed from SOPA last week. That provision would have allowed copyright-holders to get a court order to force Internet service providers to modify the offending website’s Domain Name System record to prevent customers from being able to reach the sites, according to an article from Eweek.com.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on PIPA on Tuesday, with the House to act on SOPA likely in February.
There needs to be a compromise to protect copyrighted material without hurting legitimate websites, Young added.
“I won’t support any piece of legislation that infringes on free speech or the free market” aspects of the Internet, he said.
Tara DiJulio, communications director for Sen. Dan Coats, said the Indiana Republican “is examining this bill closely and the potential impacts it could have on Hoosiers and legal online content.”
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., hadn’t released a statement on PIPA or responded to an email seeking comment on the bill as of press time.
Wikipedia remonstrated the congressional legislation by shutting down its English-language version of the site Tuesday, as other online companies also reacted to the bills. Google’s website featured a blacked-out self logo, and once a viewer clicked on the icon, they were routed to a petition rallying people against PIPA and SOPA.
Yahoo, Facebook and AOL also have announced their opposition to the legislation.
One objection raised by Wikipedia is that websites could potentially be shut down by hosting copyrighted material, whereas currently law mandates sites remove such content only if it is brought to their attention.
In protest, Google’s site still remained operational, as did the popular social networking site Twitter.
“Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted.
Costolo is opposed to the legislation, but didn’t consider shutting down Twitter in protest, the Associated Press reported.
— The Associated Press contributed to this story
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