Many of the groups that stood in opposition to SOPA have come out in favor of CISPA. Here are the points of view of some of the key players. | Related article »
| Company/Individual | Position on SOPA | Position on CISPA |
|---|---|---|
| Wikimedia | Against "SOPA has earned the dubious honor of facilitating Internet censorship in the name of fighting online infringement." (Wikimedia blog, Dec. 13, 2011) |
Undecided "It's still early days. We don't want to rush to conclusions." (Jay Walsh, a Wikimedia spokesman, in an interview last week.) Walsh said Wikimedia is monitoring the bill as it continues to gain traction. |
| Center for Democracy and Technology | Against "This is a bill that would eviscerate the predictable legal environment created by the DMCA, subjecting online innovators to a new era of uncertainty and risk. It would force pervasive scrutiny and surveillance of Internet users' online activities. It would chill the growth of social media and conscript every online platform into a new role as content police." (David Sohn, Senior Policy Counsel of CDT, in a statement Nov. 16, 2011) |
Against "The bill falls short because of the remaining concerns — the flow of Internet data directly to the NSA and the use of information for purposes unrelated to cybersecurity. We support amendments to address these concerns." (Statement, April 26) |
| Cheezburger Inc. | Against "This bill has to be killed in its entire form." (CEO Ben Huh, Jan. 13, 2012) Huh helped organize a blackout of major websites to protest the bill. |
Against "This is SOPA's cousin who works for the CIA." (Huh, in an interview last week) |
Against "We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet's development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet." (Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a statement Jan. 18, 2012) |
For "Your legislation removes burdensome rules that currently can inhibit protection of the cyber ecosystem, and helps provide a more established structure for sharing within the cyber community while still respecting the privacy rights and expectations of our users." (Letter of support, Feb 6, 2012) |
|
| Microsoft | Against "We oppose the passage of the SOPA bill as currently drafted. We think the White House statement points in a constructive way to problems with the current legislation, the need to fix them, and the opportunity for people on all sides to talk together about a better path forward." (Statement, Jan. 18, 2012) |
For "The legislation would seek to eliminate barriers and disincentives that currently prevent effective information sharing to guard against cyber-attacks. This bill would enable cyber security providers and other entities that detect cyber threat information in the course of protecting computer networks to more easily share information with each other... this bill is an important first step towards addressing significant problems in cyber security." (Letter of support, Nov. 30, 2011) |
| Electronic Frontier Foundation | Against "SOPA would not just go after copyright infringers; it leaves no one on the Internet untouched." (Blog post, Dec. 13, 2011) |
Against "It gives blanket immunity to companies to act in good faith if they claim it's for a cybersecurity purpose, even if most of the time it would be invasive or violate other laws." (Rainey Reitman, EFF activism director, in an interview last week) |
| American Civil Liberties Union | Against "The bill is severely flawed and will result in the takedown of large amounts of noninfringing content from the internet in contravention of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." (Statement to House Judiciary Committee, Nov. 15, 2011) |
Against "They keep saying we're not forcing companies to turn over anything, but that doesn't matter to the user — their privacy is still being violated." (Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel, in an interview last week) |
| Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. | Against "The Stop Online Piracy Act, would reshape our country’s legal framework for online innovation and commerce, and perhaps the technical structure of the global Internet as well." (Statement, Nov. 16, 2011) |
Against "CISPA could allow any private company to share vast amounts of sensitive, private data about its customers with the government." (Statement, April 23, 2012) |
| Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. | Against "I don't believe this bill has any chance on the House floor. I think it's way too extreme, it infringes on too many areas that our leadership will know is simply too dangerous to do in its current form." (Statement to The Wrap, Nov. 17, 2011) |
For Has not been a particularly vocal supporter, but signed on as one of over 100 cosponsors. |
| White House | Unclear "While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." (Blog post, Jan. 14, 2012) |
Against "H.R. 3523 effectively treats domestic cybersecurity as an intelligence activity and thus, significantly departs from longstanding efforts to treat the Internet and cyberspace as civilian spheres." (Statement saying Obama would veto it) |
