Letter: Rep. Smith defends SOPA

A recent article, “SOPA is the end of us, say bloggers” (Politico, Dec. 27), ignores the facts and misleads readers. This kind of one-sided reporting lets down readers and brings into question the credibility of Politico as a news source.

Critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act cannot point to any language in the bill to back up their claims. Their concerns are based on speculation and hyperbole, rather than reality. There is no language that would criminalize actions by domestic political bloggers. There is nothing that would require Internet service providers or bloggers to “censor” the Internet.


Since there is no basis for their complaints, one wonders what the bill’s critics are really worried about. Perhaps they don’t want to be held accountable for directing consumers to illegal websites. We know that’s the case with Google.

The search engine giant recently paid $500 million to settle a criminal case because of the company’s active promotion of foreign rogue pharmacies that sold counterfeit and illegal drugs to U.S. patients. Their opposition to this legislation is self-serving since they profit from doing business with rogue sites that steal and sell America’s intellectual property.

The Stop Online Piracy Act helps American innovators by protecting U.S. intellectual property from foreign criminals. The bill targets conduct that is already illegal. It applies only to foreign Websites, not domestic. No action can be taken against a foreign illegal Website without a court order from a federal judge.

SOPA makes it possible to enforce the law against foreign criminals and counterfeiters — making it harder for foreign online thieves to profit from selling counterfeit goods to U.S. consumers.

Companies that benefit from working with rogue websites will likely continue to criticize the Stop Online Piracy Act. But they use fear instead of facts to discredit the bill.

We cannot let misinformation distract us from making the online marketplace safe for U.S. consumers.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas)

Chairman

House Judiciary Committee