Protect-IP is an abysmal idea. No one likes it except for well-monied content providers. It would, if construed broadly by the courts, hinder the ability of ordinary folks to organize in order to promote higher profits for the entertainment industry, which already has plenty of ways to protect its IP. This is too high a price to pay.
PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
How flawed are the approaches now being considered by Congress? Consider these reasons.
Here’s more from Open Congress.
The fight over openness on the internet is a fundamental struggle about who has power in society. Today in the United States, the House of Representatives is taking a major step towards creating the first ever U.S. internet censorship system, using the same DNS technology that China uses for censorship. The bill is called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and it would allow the government to demand ISPs and search engines to block websites and give private companies power to cut off access to sites without taking legal action. It’s receiving a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee today and is expected to get a vote in the full House soon.
http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2430-Congress-Wants-to-Censor-the-Internet-Tell-Them-No-
The NYT and the LA Times have come out strongly against SOPA and PIPA, for excellent (and obvious) reasons including the overbreath of proposed legislation and the draconian pre-hearing remedies. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111126/23150116902/ny-times-la-times-both-come-out-against-sopa-pipa.shtml
“SOPA in a nutshell: If a criminal hid counterfeit goods in a bank safe deposit box, SOPA would allow the legitimate IP owner to shut down the entire bank and all other branches without any notice, search warrant, or due process.”
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/nbepe/sopa_in_a_nutshell_if_a_criminal_hid_counterfeit/