H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act

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To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes.

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All Bill Titles

Popular: SOPA as .

Popular: Stop Online Piracy Act as introduced.

Short: Stop Online Piracy Act as introduced.

Official: To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes. as introduced.

Popular: Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act as introduced.

Popular: E-PARASITE Act as introduced.

Popular: SOPA.

Bill’s Views

Today: 125

Past Seven Days: 513

All-Time: 489,470

Official Bill Text

Comment on about 0 Pages

Introduced

House

Passes

Senate

Passes

President

Signs

10/26/11

Sponsor

Representative

Lamar Smith

Hide Co-Sponsors

Mark E. Amodei

Added November 03, 2011

Joe Baca

Added December 07, 2011

John Barrow

Added November 14, 2011

Karen Bass

Added November 03, 2011

Howard L. Berman

Added October 26, 2011

Marsha Blackburn

Added October 26, 2011

Mary Bono Mack

Added October 26, 2011

John R. Carter

Added November 03, 2011

Wthdrawn January 24, 2012

Steve Chabot

Added October 26, 2011

Judy Chu

Added November 30, 2011

John Conyers Jr.

Added October 26, 2011

Jim Cooper

Added December 12, 2011

Theodore E. Deutch

Added October 26, 2011

Elton Gallegly

Added October 26, 2011

Bob Goodlatte

Added October 26, 2011

Tim Griffin

Added October 26, 2011

Wthdrawn January 23, 2012

Tim Holden

Added November 30, 2011

Wthdrawn January 18, 2012

Peter T. King

Added November 03, 2011

John B. Larson

Added November 30, 2011

Ben Ray Luján

Added November 14, 2011

Wthdrawn January 23, 2012

Tom Marino

Added November 03, 2011

Alan Nunnelee

Added November 03, 2011

William L. Owens

Added November 14, 2011

Benjamin Quayle

Added December 13, 2011

Wthdrawn January 17, 2012

Dennis A. Ross

Added October 26, 2011

Wthdrawn January 23, 2012

Steve Scalise

Added November 14, 2011

Wthdrawn January 23, 2012

Adam B. Schiff

Added October 26, 2011

Brad Sherman

Added December 07, 2011

Lee Terry

Added October 26, 2011

Wthdrawn January 18, 2012

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Added November 03, 2011

Melvin L. Watt

Added November 03, 2011

Committees

House Committee on the Judiciary

House Committee on Judiciary – Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet

Related Issue Areas

Crime and law enforcement

Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Business investment and capital

Civil actions and liability

Consumer affairs

Crimes against property

Criminal procedure and sentencing

Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation

Foreign and international corporations

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government information and archives

Intellectual property

International organizations and cooperation

Internet and video services

Judicial procedure and administration

Legal fees and court costs

Marketing and advertising

Military assistance, sales, and agreements

Military operations and strategy

Military procurement, research, weapons development

Music

Prescription drugs

Securities

Sound recording

Television and film

Trade restrictions

Trade secrets and economic espionage

U.S. Sentencing Commission

Data via Congressional Research Service

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OpenCongress Summary

This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringment. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have “only limited purpose or use other than infringement,” and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills — S.968 and S.978 — into one big House bill.

OpenCongress bill summaries are written by OpenCongress editors and are entirely independent of Congress and the federal government. For the summary provided by Congress itself, via the Congressional Research Service, see the “Official Summary” below.

Official Summary

Stop Online Piracy Act – Authorizes the Attorney General (AG) to seek a court order against a U.S.-directed foreign Internet site committing or facilitating online piracy to require the owner, operator, or domain name registrant, or the site or domain name itself if such persons are unable to be found, to cease and desist further activities constituting specified intellectual property offenses under the federal criminal code including criminal copyright infringement, unauthorized fixation and trafficking of sound recordings or videos of live musical performances, the recording of exhibited motion pictures, or trafficking in counterfeit labels, goods, or services. Sets forth an additional two-step process that allows an intellectual property right holder harmed by a U.S.-directed site dedicated to infringement, or a site promoted or used for infringement under certain circumstances, to first provide a written notification identifying the site to related payment network providers and Internet advertising services requiring such entities to forward the notification and suspend their services to such an identified site unless the site’s owner, operator, or domain name registrant, upon receiving the forwarded notification, provides a counter notification explaining that it is not dedicated to engaging in specified violations. Authorizes the right holder to then commence an action for limited injunctive relief against the owner, operator, or domain name registrant, or against the site or domain name itself if such persons are unable to be found, if:

(1) such a counter notification is provided (and, if it is a foreign site, includes consent to U.S. jurisdiction to adjudicate whether the site is dedicated to such violations), or

(2) a payment network provider or Internet advertising service fails to suspend its services in the absence of such a counter notification. Requires online service providers, Internet search engines, payment network providers, and Internet advertising services, upon receiving a copy of a court order relating to an AG action, to carry out certain preventative measures including withholding services from an infringing site or preventing users located in the United States from accessing the infringing site. Requires payment network providers and Internet advertising services, upon receiving a copy of such an order relating to a right holder’s action, to carry out similar preventative measures. Provides immunity from liability for service providers, payment network providers, Internet advertising services, advertisers, Internet search engines, domain name registries, or domain name registrars that take actions required by this Act or otherwise voluntarily block access to or end financial affiliation with such sites. Permits such entities to stop or refuse services to certain sites that endanger public health by distributing prescription medication that is adulterated, misbranded, or without a valid prescription. Expands the offense of criminal copyright infringement to include public performances of:

(1) copyrighted work by digital transmission, and

(2) work intended for commercial dissemination by making it available on a computer network. Expands the criminal offenses of trafficking in inherently dangerous goods or services to include:

(1) counterfeit drugs; and

(2) goods or services falsely identified as meeting military standards or intended for use in a national security, law enforcement, or critical infrastructure application. Increases the penalties for:

(1) specified trade secret offenses intended to benefit a foreign government, instrumentality, or agent; and

(2) various other intellectual property offenses as amended by this Act. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review, and if appropriate, amend related Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Requires the Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce to appoint at least one intellectual property attache to be assigned to the U.S. embassy or diplomatic mission in a country in each geographic region covered by a Department of State regional bureau.

Organizations Supporting H.R.3261

National Association of Broadcasters

Copyright Alliance

American Federation of Television & Radio Artists

International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees

National Songwriters Association

Association of American Publishers

…and 377 more. See all.

Organizations Opposing H.R.3261

Brookings Institute

Freedom House

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

Internews

New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative

…and 161 more. See all.

Latest Letters to Congress

H.R.3261 Stop Online Piracy Act

gage8707 February 24, 2015

I am writing as your constituent in the 2nd Congressional district of Indiana. I oppose H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act, and am tracking it using OpenCongress.org, the free public resource website for government transparency and accountability.

Sincerely,

Dustin Mark

H.R.3261 Stop Online Piracy Act

edwardbeyer March 16, 2014

I am writing as your constituent in the 23rd Congressional district of Texas. I oppose H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act, and am tracking it using OpenCongress.org, the free public resource website for government transparency and accountability.

While having a method to protect the rights of a person’s intellectual property is a good thing, H.R.3261 allows for far to broad an ability to impose sanctions upon websites on to little evidence. Allowing this bill to pass would simply destroy the …

H.R.3261 Stop Online Piracy Act

iamjmph01 March 14, 2014

I am writing as your constituent in the 14th Congressional district of Texas. I oppose H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act, and am tracking it using OpenCongress.org, the free public resource website for government transparency and accountability.

Sincerely,

Darin Ehrhart

Related Bills

  1. 968: PIPA

Introduced Jan 23, 2012

290 views

  1. 1228: Combating Military Counterfeits Act of 2011

Introduced Jul 21, 2011

8 views

Interest group positions: Maplight-trans

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“we will never be ready for internet censorship. this bill is overly bro…”

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