Honorable Senator Hagan,
I sincerely doubt that American economy is affected by $58 billion a year due to piracy. That is precisely the problem I have with all piracy bills, their ludicrous claims of lost revenue. These numbers are calculated as if all the pirated material was going to be acquired legally by all. Most of the people that pirate would never have purchased the material to begin with especially at the prices the owners use to calculate the inflated numbers.
The real problem is that the piracy sites are out of American jurisdiction, if you want to prevent piracy then you need to make the content more easily accessible. It used to be a time when people were pirating music left and right. But once the music industry allowed the sale of music online at a price consumers are willing to pay, it has become EASIER to acquire the music legally than through other means. For less than a $1 people can get their music fix right then and there legally.
If the movie industry made their movies easier to acquire at a cheaper price, I bet piracy would go down tremendously. But they are greedy machines trying to squeeze every penny out of something including paying Congress to do their bidding. Just look at what the studios do to cable companies and Netflix. The movie industry should be focused on getting their content out to the masses, because if people can get the latest movies from Netflix, cable or for any of their devices cheaply, they won’t have to pirate them. This legislation is, in my opinion, going after the wrong thing.
It is a shame that you support this horrible bill, come re-election time, I’ll be voting for the OTHER candidate.
Sincerely,
jesus rodriguez
January 19, 2012
Dear Friend,
Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011, more commonly referred to as the PROTECT IP Act of 2011. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue.
On May 12, 2011, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (S. 968) was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. This bill would allow the Attorney General, or an intellectual property rights owner who has been harmed by an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities (ISDIA), also known as a rogue website, to take action against that site. A site would be designated as an ISDIA if their sole purpose is to facilitate copyright infringement, or promote or sale of counterfeited American works.
A recent study suggests that copyright piracy alone costs the American economy as much as $58 billion a year and countless jobs. I strongly support the goal of reducing the theft of intellectual property that is so important to North Carolina’s economy, including our budding film industry, which is why I and 40 of my bipartisan cosponsors originally cosponsored this legislation last July.
As with all proposed legislation, legitimate concerns have been raised about some of the specific provisions in this bill. I believe that supporters and opponents of the bill, all of whom agree, after all, on the need to combat the theft of American intellectual property, should work together to address those concerns. As you may know, the Senate is scheduled to begin consideration of this legislation later this month, and I intend to approach the debate and amendment process with an open mind. Through a full and robust debate, I believe we can improve the legislation, ultimately reaching an agreement that will protect intellectual property without limiting innovation and creativity or creating unintended consequences.
Again, thank you for contacting my office. It is truly an honor to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future should you have any further questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Kay R. Hagan
Many will blame the Administration for not doing more but clearly the people to blame are the special interest groups that actually run this country. We have this belief that WE THE PEOPLE are in charge, we’re so wrong. I think the problem isn’t Congress or the Executive branch, but the lobbyist that have our leaders ears (or more likely other parts of their bodies).
