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Tim Berners-Lee supports campaign against US PIPA and SOPA

Father of the web Berner-Lee, latest to support senator Ron Wyden's initiative against PIPA and SOPA.

Cliff Saran
By
Published: 09 Jan 2012 16:19

Tim Berners-Lee, father of the worldwide web, has supported a group putting pressure on the US government over the proposed US PIPA Act, which aims to impose restrictions and censorship on the internet.

Earlier today, Berners-Lee retweeted a  post against the Protect Intellectual property Act  (PIPA). The retweet stated: “We need you to stand with the Internet and kill PIPA.” The post came from the  pressure group,  act.demandprogress.org/act.

Speaking in May 2011, US senator Ron Wyden, who strongly opposes PIPA  stated: “I understand and agree with the goal of the legislation, to protect intellectual property and combat commerce in counterfeit goods, but I am not willing to muzzle speech and stifle innovation and economic growth to achieve this objective.  At the expense of legitimate commerce, PIPA’s prescription takes an overreaching approach to policing the Internet when a more balanced and targeted approach would be more effective. The collateral damage of this approach is speech, innovation and the very integrity of the Internet.”

Internet pioneers speak out against PIPA and SOPA

An open letter to Washington posted in December 2011 signed by  Vint Cerf, one of the forefathers of the internet, along with several internet leaders,  stated that PIPA and SOPA would:

  • Require web services, like the ones we helped found, to monitor what users link to, or upload. This would have a chilling effect on innovation;
  • Deny website owners the right to due process of law;
  • Give the U.S. Government the power to censor the web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran; and
  • Undermine security online by changing the basic structure of the Internet.

According to Wyden, PIPA, and the related SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) would give the US government and corporations new powers to block Americans' access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users' contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online. Although PIPA is US legislation, it could have a profound effect on global businesses and internet sites.

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