Loading ...Opposition appears to be growing against the Protect IP Act, which was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy earlier this year. The bill that is officially called the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 hopes to reduce content piracy.
While Hollywood is in strong support of the proposed legislation, the tech community has spoken out against it. Google, Facebook, and several other Internet companies and venture capitalists have said that the bill would limit innovation.
WebProNews spoke specifically with Brad Burnham of Union Square Ventures who was among a group of VCs that sent a letter to Congress urging them to stop the act from going any further. As he explained to us, this legislation would make it very difficult for startups going forward.
This bill, which seems to have major flaws, focuses on creating new tools for those who have already been victims of intellectual property theft.
As a business owner, if my companys trade secrets have been stolen, the damage has already been done. You cant unring the bell and in the time it would take me to seek a legal recourse and shut down the offending site, my IP could have been copied and downloaded millions of times by my competitors.
Where is the emphasis on PREVENTION of intellectual property theft?