The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the commercial software industry's arm to educate about piracy and investigate piracy, has raised concerns about the government's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
In a blog post, BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman wrote that SOPA "needs work" as the current proposal does not "balance key innovation, privacy and security considerations with the need to thwart the threat rogue websites pose." At this time BSA does not support SOPA, he wrote.
According to Holleyman, SOPA "could sweep in more than just truly egregious actors." He noted that the bill needs "definitions of who can be the subject of legal actions" as well as "narrow" and "tighter" descriptions of possible remedies. ... Due process, free speech, and privacy are rights that cannot be compromised. And the security of networks and communications is indispensable to a thriving Internet economy." He also objected any activities such as "filtering or monitoring the Internet".
Holleyman stressed that he believes the bill's "basic goals should be to promote creativity," while it also needs to deter "bad actors that profit from selling copies of software and other works they do not own."
(Emphasis added.)
Cool.
So how about we put the next logical step into law- prosecuting these guys and not Joe Average Guy (or grandma) for downloading 5 songs?
That way, we can avoid stupid lawsuits which jam up the courts, and take down the automatic settlement websites.
But if Congress is still trying to get this passed, well, there's probably no hope for that for a while.
I wish people like him were running the RIAA and MPAA.
Businesses, in particular the larger one, pirate all the time. The difference is when they get caught they pay a small fine/some licensing fees, the lawyers argue it out in court, and its all swept under the rug. On top of that the media/software industries are not losing money due to pirating (look at any unbiased report, not the usual BS bought and paid for and parroted by the politicians), rather its a scapegoat used to justify putting through draconian laws.