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Legislative History (COICA, PIPA and SOPA)
For instance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center praised the bill,
explaining: “Rogue sites and their operators contribute nothing to the U.S. economy. They do not
innovate, they do not pay taxes, they do not follow safety standards, and they do not follow the
law. Today’s vote serves as a wakeup call to those who illicitly profit at the expense of American
businesses and consumers—the U.S. will not tolerate your careless, reckless, malicious behavior.” 13
Copyright Alliance explained its support of this bill: “The websites targeted by this legislation are
draining income from American businesses and misleading consumers with their unregulated,
unlicensed and unsafe practices. . . . This bill provides much-needed tools for law enforcement to
do its job and we urge the full Senate to consider it in the very near future.” 14
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association issued its press release supporting the bill,
stating: “By cracking down on rogue websites that have for too long encouraged the theft of
valuable content and intellectual property, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 sends a strong message
that this illicit practice will no longer be tolerated.” 15
A group of entertainment professionals jointly issued a statement in support of the bill. 16 Representing
“more than 400,000 entertainment industry workers including craftspeople, actors, technicians,
directors, musicians, recording artists and others whose creativity is at the heart of the
American entertainment industry,” the statement opines,
“[W]e believe the PROTECT IP Act is critical to efforts to aggressively combat the proliferation
of foreign ‘rogue websites’ that steal US produced content and profit from it by
illegally selling it to the American public. Let us be very clear: online theft is stealing. It
results in thousands of lost jobs and millions of dollars in lost wages for our members. We
reject the claims that shutting down illegal sites may somehow impact legitimate commercial
websites. This bill clearly goes after illegal sites; legitimate and law abiding
websites are not the target and we would hope that those who advocate against either of
these bills are not condoning illegal activity on the Internet any more than they would
condone illegal activity in their bank or grocery store. Today’s passage of the PROTECT
IP Act is a significant step toward ending the ‘looting’ of the creative and artistic entertainment
works that constitute our members’ hard work, and are an invaluable part of our
collective cultural heritage.” 17
The groups signing on to this Joint Statement were the American Federation of Musicians (AFM),
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Directors Guild of America (DGA),
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and
Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE), International Brotherhood of
Teamsters (IBT) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG). 18
A coalition of entertainment industry organizations supported the bill, specifically stating, “By
helping shut down rogue websites that profit from stolen films, television shows, and other counterfeit
goods, this legislation will protect wages and benefits for the millions of middle class workers
who bring America’s creativity to life.” 19 Members of the group include the Independent Film &
Television Alliance® (IFTA), the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), and the Motion
Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA). 20
Finally the American Apparel and Footwear Association issued a statement that “[w]hile the current
PROTECT IP Act is a significant improvement over previous attempts at legislation to shut down
rogue Web sites that sell counterfeit goods, the U.S. apparel and footwear industry believes this bill
can be made stronger. We are pleased that language has been included to allow law enforcement the
ability to share information with rightsholders.” 21
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