PROTECT IP Act Will Save Jobs and Promote Innovation
The letter sent by entrepreneurs to Congress concerning S. 968, The PROTECT IP Act, grossly misrepresents the bill. Instead of supporting its claims with relevant facts, the letter employed ad hominem attack against rights holders while ignoring the dangerously defective products sold on rogue sites that harm consumers. The fact is the PROTECT IP Act is a balanced approach that will help crack down on rogue sites, the worst of worst online thieves, while facilitating the continued growth of the Internet as a safe, vibrant marketplace.
The bill is narrowly crafted to apply to sites with no significant use other than online IP theft. The technology that this bill would employ— DNS filtering— is already widely used to protect consumers from malicious web sites. Intellectual property (IP) rights are the foundation for our livelihood, economic longevity, and put 19 million Americans in good paying jobs. Rogue websites threaten U.S. consumers, workers, and businesses. The legislation has broad-based bipartisan support, including more than a quarter of the U.S. Senate, as well as a diverse coalition of hundreds of companies, organized labor, 43 state attorneys general, governors and state and local officials. Passing this legislation ought to be a top priority for Congress.
