Pat Tiberi letter re: SOPA

From: Congressman Pat Tiberi <oh12ima@mail.house.gov>
Date: Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 3:08 PM
Subject: Reply from Congressman Pat Tiberi
To: [recipient]


January 20, 2012



Dear _____,


Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns with intellectual property. I appreciate this opportunity to correspond with you.



As you may know, on October 26, 2011, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This bill would combat the theft of U.S. intellectual property by allowing the U.S. Justice Department to seek injunctions against foreign websites that traffic in pirated goods. Moreover, the bill would prevent online thieves from selling counterfeit goods in the U.S. The bill would allow the Attorney General to shut down websites that enable or facilitate copyright infringement.



I have heard concerns about possible unintended consequences of the bill including lawsuits being filed against parties who were unknowingly providing counterfeit products through their website. You will be happy to know that I oppose this bill.  However, most critics of this bill, including myself, believe it is important that our government protect against counterfeiting which hurts businesses, innovators, workers, and consumers.  In recent years, counterfeiting has grown rapidly costing America hundreds of billions of dollars a year. But, I do not think the SOPA bill, as introduced, is the answer to this problem.



This bill is currently being considered by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. While I am not a member of this committee, I will certainly continue to monitor this issue closely.



Thank you again for taking time to contact me about this issue. Your opinions are important, and I appreciate you taking the time to share them with me. If I may be of assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,





Patrick J. Tiberi

Representative to Congress

PJT/kb