Hollywood or Silicon Valley? — President Obama must choose

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TheHill:

A controversial online piracy bill could force President Obama to choose between two of his most important allies: Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

Obama hasn’t taken a position yet on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that has divided senior lawmakers in both parties, but that will have to change if it clears Congress.

If Obama signs the bill, he will dash the hopes of Silicon Valley executives who donated heavily to his 2008 campaign and are vehemently opposed to the anti-piracy measure.

But the entertainment industry would see a veto as a betrayal by the administration on its most significant priority.



SOPA would empower the Justice Department and copyright holders to demand that search engines, Internet providers and payment processors cut off access to sites “dedicated” to copyright infringement.
The legislation is aimed at blocking foreign sites such as The Pirate Bay that offer illegal copies of movies, music and television shows with impunity.

Movie studios, record labels and business groups say the law is necessary to crack down on online copyright infringement, which is hurting businesses and destroying jobs.

But consumer groups and major Web companies, including Google, Yahoo and Facebook, warn SOPA would stifle innovation. They say the legislation would impose an unreasonable burden on websites to police user-generated content and could lead to legitimate websites getting shut down.

Although Hollywood and Silicon Valley are engaged in an all-out lobbying war over SOPA, they are also two of President Obama’s most important bases of support.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, who just last month warned that SOPA would “criminalize linking and the fundamental structure of the Internet itself,” campaigned for Obama in 2008 and has already donated the maximum amount to his reelection campaign.