The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council Thursday endorsed the Senate PROTECT IP ACT and House Stop Online Piracy Act, two bills that are aimed at giving the government and industry more tools to combat online content piracy and IP theft, though opponents argue they are blunderbusses that could do collateral damage to the 'net.
MMTC argues that the economic hit from piracy is especially hard on minority digital entrepreneurs. Because of wealth gap, those entrepreneurs seldom have extensive hard capital assets -- like real estate -- to collateralize. With the intellectual property generally the only significant asset, MMTC argues, decreasing its value makes it harder to raise capital and stay in business.
MMTC said the IP theft problem is pressing, and that both the House and Senate should move quickly to pass the bills.
While this is MMTC's first endorsement of the bills, it is not a stranger to the issue, having filed an amicus brief in support of Viacom in its legal fight with YouTube over copyright infringement, according to MMTC President David Honig.
