Google may dump Chamber of Commerce over ‘Protect IP’ bill

Source: Raw Story
By Muriel Kane



The so-called “Protect IP” bill, which is nominally intended to halt digital piracy and the online sale of counterfeit goods by allowing US officials to block allegedly infringing websites, has run into opposition from many quarters, including human rights activists.

Now it seems that the powerful United States Chamber of Commerce, which has aggressively promoted the legislation, may suffer for its stance. Last spring, an attempt by the hacktivist group Anonymous to shut down the Chamber’s website with a denial-of-service attack fell far short of its goal, but recently several high-powered tech industry groups and their members have joined the struggle.

Yahoo left the Chamber last month, and Google is apparently considering doing the same. According to Politico, “A source close to Google said the company is ‘frustrated’ about paying dues to an organization promoting legislation that would ‘impose new liabilities’ on Google.”

“Many in the tech industry believe the Chamber is doing the bidding of Hollywood and other deep-pocketed members of the content industry,” Politico explains. “The Chamber believes the IP bills are needed to stop rogue sites from profiting off the content its members spend millions making. In testimony before Congress, entertainment companies have vilified Google as a facilitator of online piracy.”

More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/04/google-may-dump-chamber-of-commerce-over-protect-ip-bill/

They're a useless bunch of self-serving assholes, IMO.

anything/anyone else IMO. If the Chamber of Commerce backs it, it's probably bad IMO.

good for Google and Yahoo