The bill is out, and it's a terror. We posted about the rumors yesterday, and they were mostly dead-on. It'd break the Internet as we know it.
Purported to be the House version of the PROTECT IP Act (S.968), Lamar Smith's bill is much wider-ranging. PROTECT IP would give the government new powers to block users' access to websites accused of copyright infringement.
Smith's bill folds in the bulk of Sen Amy Klobuchar's S.978, which would make certain streaming of unlicensed content a felony punished by 5 years in prison. While Klobuchar's bill criminalized 10 instances of streaming, Goodlatte would put you in prison for doing it once. The legislation threatens to target people for posting music in the background of videos, dancing to pop songs, or playing in cover bands. As S.978 cosponsor Chris Coons (D-DE) has put it, the legislation would criminalize "individuals and sites providing the streamed content."
Smith's bill also targets sites that are said to "induce" infringement -- creating new exposure for site proprietors based on what their users post, potentially undermining the long-standing Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and others could be targeted.
This is an omnibus grab-bag of corporate goodies that will hurt consumers, stifle innovation, foment censorship, and change the Internet as we know it for the worse. It's so over-the-top that we're not sure if we should be laughing or crying.
Please click here to ask your lawmakers to vote no.