As the first anniversary of the January 18, 2012 SOPA
blackouts approaches, and with a new session of Congress starting, there has
been an increase in the usual pieces looking at the impact of the monumental
anti-SOPA effort on future policymaking regarding the Internet and copyright.
Some of the recent articles include a piece
in The Hill, another
in IDG, and another
in TNR, all featuring great quotes from diverse parties such as Rep. Zoe
Lofgren, representatives from the offices of the Judiciary Committee on both
the Senate and House sides, and industry stakeholders, including CCIA President
& CEO Ed Black, talking about what they have learned, and what is to come.
The piece
in The Hill quoted rights-holder representatives who have expressed very
different approaches and goals for the year that do not look like they are
currently gearing up for SOPA 2.0. An RIAA spokesperson denied plans to
advocate copyright enforcement legislation, and are instead looking ahead and
promoting the marketplace for digital formats, and focusing on music licensing
issues. This is encouraging, as market-based solutions are preferable to
legislative efforts, and will be an important development to follow. An
MPAA spokesperson confirmed plans for future anti-piracy initiatives, including
potential legislative efforts.
These perspectives comport with CCIA’s expectations, as expressed by Ed Black
in recent interviews. Speaking with IDG, he agreed
that Congress is “going to tiptoe in this area very carefully,” and will
probably be wary of even the follow-the-money approaches that earlier may have
been attractive. However, while Congress may still be too spooked from
SOPA to act on legislation again soon, Ed is not ruling out anti-piracy
efforts, explaining
to The Hill that CCIA’s “view has been the big content people are never
satisfied, so it is always safe to assume that they will always be trying for
something new and something more.”
An all-star CES panel
yesterday confirmed these views. While there was some cynicism about
stakeholders such as consumer public interest groups and the tech industry
always having to be on the defensive and prevent the status quo from getting
worse, there was also talk of a positive innovation agenda, which was echoed
again by Senator Ron Wyden’s excellent “freedom to compete” speech
at CES today, where he addressed important policy priorities in intellectual
property and related areas.
