DiMA Applauds Sen. Leahy for Tackling Online Piracy, Urges Clarity to Prevent Unintended Consequences for Online Innovators

Washington, D.C. (November 18, 2010) – The Senate Judiciary Committee today amended and approved S. 3804, the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.”  Lee Knife, Interim Executive Director of the Digital Media Association, issued the following statement:

“DiMA commends Chairman Leahy for his efforts to combat online piracy.  Websites that have no other purpose than to engage in copyright infringement pose a serious threat to our member companies, who pay royalties for the right to legally distribute music, videos, books and other forms of digital entertainment online.”

“It is important for digital media innovators that any legislative effort to thwart online piracy is not so far-reaching as to trigger unintended negative consequences for legitimate online services, and we are therefore pleased with some of the changes Senator Leahy has made to the bill, including elimination of the proposed “DOJ blacklist” and addition of a “savings clause”.  However, the legislation still lacks clear definitions on some key terms and meaningful standards that would protect law-abiding companies from possible harm.  We are hopeful Congress will address these concerns prior to the reintroduction and consideration of the legislation in the 112^th Congress.”