MPAA Speaks Against OPEN Act Again

12 Jan, 2012 By: Chris Tribbey

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The Motion Picture Association of America has again come out strongly against the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act, or OPEN, calling it “ineffective” and “costly.”

Unlike the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP), both of which are before Congress, the OPEN Act would look to existing trade laws to stem the flow of illegal digital goods into the United States, instead of the courts.

Michael O’Leary, senior EVP for global policy and external affairs for the MPAA, said that while everyone agrees doing nothing isn’t an option, the OPEN Act is “essentially a distraction intended to hurt the prospects of” the other two pieces of anti-piracy legislation.

“The OPEN Act is ineffective in targeting foreign criminal websites in several ways,” he wrote. “It creates a time-consuming and costly method for copyright holders to adjudicate against foreign thieves. Instead of using the federal courts that already decide copyright infringement cases, it adds additional hurdles for independent artists and small businesses.”

His remarks were in response to a press conference by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who penned the OPEN Act.

O’Leary argues that the OPEN Act doesn’t offer any technical solutions to blocking foreign websites dealing in illegal content, and would lead to a “a costly expansion of bureaucracy.”

“By omitting language that requires search engines to block the ‘importation’ of a link to a foreign rogue website, this bill denies the [International Trade Commission] its traditional enforcement authority and protects the ability of criminals to continue to exploit search engines to promote the theft of American intellectual property,” he wrote.

All three bills were discussed during a panel at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, several media outlets reported, with the technology community at large against SOPA and PROTECT IP, and for the OPEN Act.
 

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