LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Wednesday, as Web sites across the United States were going dark to protest Congress' consideration of a bill that’s believed to be a threat to online innovation and business, Lake County’s congressman voiced his opposition to the bill and support of new legislation that he said is meant to protect the Internet.

Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) is one of several dozen members of Congress who have come out against HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy – known more commonly as SOPA.

“Today, thousands of Internet sites such as Wikipedia and WordPress have gone dark, giving us a glimpse of what it could be like if the overly broad SOPA legislation became law. SOPA would stifle innovation, resulting in fewer new businesses, fewer new investments and fewer new jobs. From 2004-2009, 15 percent of our country’s GDP growth came from the Internet industry,” Thompson said in a statement released by his office.

SOPA would allow sites to be suspended through a court order if they were found to contain pirated material.

SOPA’s backers – many of which are in the film and recording industries – assert that the bill is aimed at foreign Internet sites suspected of committing or facilitating online piracy.

Opponents say that in reality SOPA would give corporations authority to shut down Web sites that are only accused – and not proven – to have published copyrighted material.

Thompson said the rules SOPA would impose would deal an enormous blow to the country’s innovation-driven economy.

“Startups wouldn't be able to handle the costs that come with defending their sites against a barrage of alleged violations,” he said. “Domestic companies could be held liable for unknowingly linking to rogue Web site content. And people won’t invest in Internet startups for fear their money will be tied up in litigation, not innovation. The next Facebook or Google could never get off the ground.

“While online piracy is something we must continually fight, SOPA is the wrong way to do it. That is why I am working with global leaders like Google and Twitter, to instead enact the OPEN Act, which still combats piracy but does so in a way that doesn’t let broad government oversight stifle the innovation and creativity that has been a driving force behind the Internet industry’s economic success,” he added.

On Wednesday, Thompson helped introduce the bipartisan Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act, H.R. 3782. He’s an original co-sponsor of the act.

Thompson’s office reported that the OPEN Act would enable holders of intellectual property to petition the International Trade Commissions (ITC) to launch an investigation into whether a foreign Web site’s only purpose is to engage in infringement of U.S. copyrights and trademarks.

While complex and difficult issues would take time to resolve, investigations into simple and obvious cases, like the worst foreign rogue Web sites, could be handled in a matter of days. In either case, the process would create a transparent system in which all parties would have a chance to be heard, Thompson reported.

If the ITC investigation finds that a foreign registered Web site is primarily and willfully infringing on the intellectual property rights of a U.S. rights holder, the commission would issue a cease and desist order that would compel payment processors, like Visa and PayPal, and online advertising providers to cease doing business with the foreign site in question, according to Thompson. He said that would cut off financial incentives for this illegal activity and deter these imports from reaching the U.S. market.

Thompson said the OPEN Act takes a much narrower and more targeted approach to combating online infringement than other proposed legislation such as SOPA by only targeting sites “primarily and willfully” engaging in infringement. By employing a clear and targeted definition of infringement, the OPEN Act will ensure that only legitimate cases are pursued, he said.

Other pieces of legislation such as SOPA employ broader standards that would require many Web site operators to employ lawyers to argue that it is not engaging in intellectual property infringement. Such broad definitions could be used to discourage innovation and quash free speech, Thompson said.

While SOPA would employ a one-sided process in which judges would only hear from rights holders, by putting the ITC in charge of intellectual property investigations, the OPEN Act would ensure a fair and transparent process in which all parties have an opportunity to be hear, according to Thompson.

Unlike SOPA, the OPEN Act does not go after sites or search engines that simply link to Web sites that host infringing content. Rather the OPEN Act would combat online infringement by cutting off a foreign site’s ability to profit from the sale of fake merchandise or content they don’t own, he said.

The OPEN Act is supported by a bipartisan group of 22 House Members and 3 Senators, as well as AOL, eBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, twitter, Yahoo!, Zynga, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and www.netcoalition.com.

SOPA is still working its way through Congress, which according to a Pro Publica report contains more supporters of the bill than opponents.

Thompson is among 31 members of Congress who have taken a position against it, compared to 80 who are proponents of SOPA, according to the Pro Publica report, which can be found at http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/.

On the list of supporters are California’s two senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

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