The problem is that it enables the taking down of the non-pirated legal content protected by the First Amendment.
Copyright holders will have to come up with a more targeted approach to fighting piracy.
Posted By: Angela_Petite2
Google will join the Wednesday protests of proposed antipiracy legislation by posting a statement about both controversial bills on its homepage.
Wikipedia, Reddit and a host of other Internet sites are planning to go dark to protest the legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate. But Google is apparently stopping short of such measures, even as it remains a staunch opponent of the legislation.
"Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and Web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet," said a Google spokeswoman. "So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight the issue on our U.S. homepage."
The company did not say whether it would alter its logo, as has been a common practice for Google to commemorate key events.
The Wednesday protests will be the start of an increasing campaign against the legislation. The NetCoalition, a group of Internet companies including Google, Amazon, Yahoo and eBay, is planning a radio advertising campaign that will air in eight states including Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith said that he expects the markup of the legislation to resume some time in February. Last week, he said that he would remove a key portion of the bill that would enable authorities to obtain a court order to block domain names of pirating sites.
"I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American jobs and protects intellectual property," he said.
Smith also issued a statement reacting to the planned Wikipedia blackout, calling it a "publicity stunt" and "ironic that a website dedicated to providing information is spreading misinformation about the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill will not harm Wikipedia, domestic blogs or social networking sites."
He added, "It's disappointing that some SOPA critics appear not to have read the bill. The Stop Online Piracy Act only targets foreign websites that are primarily dedicated to illegal activity."
On Tuesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney pushed back on the notion that the administration is siding with Silicon Valley in the debate. Over the weekend, the White House released a statement critical of portions of the legislation. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and others immediate slammed the Obama administration's position as giving in to tech firms.
"I don't believe that that's an accurate way to describe it," Carney said. "I think what you saw in the exposition of the administration's position over the weekend was a keen focus on the need to do something serious about online piracy, especially by foreign websites. It's a serious problem that requires serious legislative responses. But we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cyber security risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative, global Internet."
