Smith to move forward with SOPA despite defections

Rep. Lamar Smith has removed the most contentious measure in SOPA. Rep. Lamar Smith has removed the most contentious measure in SOPA. Photo: JERRY LARA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: JERRY LARA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Smith to move forward with SOPA despite defections 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — Despite a public relations victory for the tech industry against online piracy bills, a San Antonio lawmaker at the center of the firestorm vowed Thursday to continue with legislation targeting foreign websites selling counterfeit U.S. goods.

Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he bowed to pressure and removed the most contentious measure in the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA.

And even with a crescendo of criticism that the bill will foster censorship and an expansion of law enforcement power, Smith said: “I am prepared to move forward.”

The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet next month on the bill.

“The opponents have not come up with suggestions to reduce online piracy,” said Smith, R-San Antonio. “The problem is too big to ignore.”

Smith said the piracy by foreign websites of U.S. products costs American businesses $100 million a year through counterfeiting, illegal downloads and technology theft.

“This is a huge problem that needs to be addressed,” he said.

A Senate version of the antipiracy legislation, the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, faces higher hurdles.

Key supporters — including Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas — are now asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to delay consideration of the bill.

“Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about the Internet and free speech necessitate a more thoughtful, deliberative process,” Cornyn said.

A massive public relations campaign was launched against the bill by Google, which spent $5.9 million and hired nearly two dozen lobbyists in 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

The campaign culminated Wednesday with an Internet blackout fanned by social media sites that created a wave of opposition from users completely unfamiliar with the legislation.

A strategy by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Motion Picture Association of America and media firms, using newspaper advertisements urging Congress to pass the bills, failed to counter the social media assault.

The Hearst Corp., which owns the San Antonio Express-News as well as television stations in U.S. markets, is studying the issue but has not taken a position on the legislation, said Paul Luthringer, a spokesman.

The bills are supported by the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Council of Mayors and the Business Software Alliance and once enjoyed broad bipartisan support.

But as the Internet protests grew, more firms, like Rackspace Hosting Inc. in San Antonio, which operates data centers in Hong Kong and London, joined in opposition.

The tech firms opposed a Domain Name Service blocking provision that would give the Justice Department authority to order Web companies to remove links to foreign websites that offer pirated goods.

Smith removed the provision from the House bill last month, but it still remains in the Senate legislation.

“We did our best to satisfy Rackspace,” Smith said. “We did address their primary concern.”

Internet firms say the provision would be cumbersome and onerous to carry out, while other providers and Web users have claimed the provision amounts to censorship of foreign sites.

Lanham Napier, Rackspace chief executive officer, traveled to Washington last month to speak with Smith directly about the provision. Though its removed from the bill, Napier still is skeptical.

“I'd like to see Congress call timeout on this, go back to the drawing board and figure out a better approach,” Napier said.

“It's a bit of a bizarre situation to wake up one day and realize that our elected officials are contemplating things that can really change the Internet.”

Smith, a former chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property, has been contemplating the legislation for “six or seven years.”

Last year, Smith and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., author of PIPA, passed patent reform legislation sought by Dell and other Texas high-tech firms.

The patent bill was supported by President Barack Obama. Smith said changes he has made to SOPA have drawn support of the administration as well.

“We think we will be able to work with the White House on a final product,” Smith said.

gmartin@express-news.net