Report: Google’s Schmidt pans anti-piracy bills, suggests alternative

{mosads} The measures would empower the Justice Department and copyright holders to demand that Internet providers, search engines and ad networks block websites “dedicated to copyright infringement.” The legislation is aimed at curbing online piracy, which movies studios and record labels say is devastating their business.

But Google and other web companies argue the legislation imposes unreasonable burdens on websites and threatens free expression on the Internet.

“The correct solution, which we’ve repeatedly said, is to follow the money,” Schmidt said. “Making it more explicitly illegal to make money from that type of content is what we recommend.”

Google policy counsel Katherine Oyama made a similar argument in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the legislation last month. She said the financial boycott that has hobbled whistleblower website WikiLeaks should serve as a model for anti-piracy laws.

But the bills’ supporters have pushed back against criticism that the measures go too far. 

“There is no First Amendment right to steal,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a news release Wednesday afternoon, the AP notes. “This (bill) will protect Americans’ intellectual property rights, which in turn boosts our economy and promotes American jobs.”