Rep. Eshoo recently led a bipartisan letter arguing against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), currently being debating in Congress.  While Eshoo is opposed to online piracy and committed to combating it, this legislation would cause substantial harm to innovation and the economic opportunities created by the Internet. Specifically, the legislation gives the government broad new authority to order Internet Service Providers to implement various filtering technologies on their networks and create new forms of private legal action against websites.  

James Temple, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote about her efforts:

A group of Silicon Valley legislators will publicly release a letter today vigorously opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bipartisan bill they argue would undermine legal protections that foster online innovation and create jobs.

The letter, obtained by The Chronicle, was sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Ranking Member John Conyers D-Mich. The House is preparing to hold hearings on the controversial copyright measure on Wednesday.

“At a time of continued economic uncertainty, this legislation will result in fewer new businesses, fewer new investments and fewer new jobs,” said the letter from Democratic Silicon Valley Reps. Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren and Mike Honda.

The Senate’s counterpart measure, the Protect IP Act, is pending. The goal of both bills is to provide copyright holders stronger weapons to battle sites that host unauthorized or counterfeit media and goods, particularly “rogue” overseas sites that often lie beyond the reach of U.S. law. The laws would empower the U.S. attorney general or in some cases companies themselves to demand the blocking of access or funds to sites accused of infringement.

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