Rep. Lee Terry cosponsors 'worst piece of IP legislation in a decade'; SOPA would imprison future Justin Beibers; death penalty for thousands of web sites

Lee Terry's bill would expose future Justin Beibers
to prison terms. Regrettably, this photo is not real.

Congress is considering companion bills, the so-called Protect IP Act in the Senate and, in the house, SOPA.

Here's the deceptive House of Representatives description of the bill, SOPA, that Lee Terry is cosponsoring:

The Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) allows the Attorney General to seek injunctions against foreign websites that steal and sell American innovations and products.  The bill increases criminal penalties for individuals who traffic in counterfeit medicine and military goods, which put innocent civilians and American soldiers at risk. And it improves coordination between IP enforcement agencies in the U.S.

What the description Terry (Washington: 202-225­-4155, Omaha 402-397­-9944) and his fellow perps don't tell you is that it means the death penalty for any web site featuring somebody streaming a performance of a song they don't own. Oh, and five years in prison for the performer.



Here's what Declan McCullagh of CNET said about Terry's sinister bill:

Because the Stop Online Piracy Act is 79 pages long and amends existing law in subtle ways, it will take some time to analyze how it differs from the PROTECT IP Act, which earlier introduced the notion of an Internet "death penalty."

Terry's bill, which the Electronic Frontier Foundation has called "disastrous" may be even worse than its Big Brother in the Senate, the so-called "Protect IP" act, which even Google has already vowed to fight. The EFF further described Lee Terry's legislation:

...suffice it to say, this is the worst piece of IP legislation we’ve seen in the last decade — and that’s saying something.  This would be a good time to contact your Congressional representative and tell them to oppose this bill!