{mosads}Dodd denied that the bill would lead to censorship, citing a recent study by Envisional that found nearly a quarter of Internet traffic is copyright-infringing.
“Attacking international content theft is not about restricting speech. Quite the opposite. Just as the Constitution defends an artist’s right to create, copyright protections defend the artist’s ability to do so,” Dodd said.
“There is a difference between believing that the Internet should be free and open and believing that just because something’s on the Internet, it should be free.”
SOPA is scheduled for a markup by the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Opponents of the bill have drafted their own proposal, dubbed the OPEN Act, that is scheduled to be formally introduced Wednesday.