Google and Facebook unite against US anti-piracy move
Digital giants Google and Facebook have joined forces in a bid to persuade the US government to rethink two planned anti-piracy laws.
The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protective IP Act propose are designed to give authorities new powers to shutdown websites hosting illegal downloads or counterfeit goods.
But a host of Silicon Valley’s top tech firms including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and AOL have all openly called on the government to return to the drawing board – claiming that the measures would hit innovation in a joint letter.
The letter noted: “Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding US internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of websites.”
Google and Facebook are concerned that their present freedom to host third party content – such as blogs, without fear of copyright action – so long as they remove content when requested to do so.