Obama administration responds to SOPA petition

Barack Obama's administration has said that it will not support anti-piracy legislation that facilitates online censorship.

The White House issued the statement in response to a protest against the Protect IP Act (PIPA) and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bills.



"Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small," read the Oval Office statement.

The US government added that it is essential for anti-piracy laws to "avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet," while offering rights holders and prosecutors "new legal tools to combat online piracy".

The Obama administration's stance suggests that it will not support SOPA in its current form. However, it was recently announced that the controversial DNS-blocking provisions of the bill, which would have forced service providers to block non-US websites accused of copyright violations, have been removed.

Universal, Warner Bros, Viacom, ESPN, ABC, Major League Baseball and the National Football League are among SOPA's key supporters. Marvel Entertainment and its parent company Disney are also in favour. Facebook, Google, AOL, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay and Wikipedia are leading the opposition.

The US government added that it will continue to work with "all sides" in order to "pass sound legislation" on the issue. It also appealed to the public for suggestions on tackling online piracy.

"We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardising the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge."

PIPA author senator Patrick Leahy has conceded that further study into DNS-blocking is required before his bill is put to the vote.

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