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As United States lawmakers continue to consider anti-piracy legislation in Congress,
they’ve found an ally in Netflix. Now the streaming content giant has created its own
super PAC, whose main goal is to promote SOPA-like legislation.
Hollywood and record industry support didn’t help Congress get SOPA and PIPA to
pass the House and Senate, but now they have a new accomplice in their continuing
fight to try and push for anti-piracy legislation. Netflix, the number one name in
(legally) streaming video services in the US has announced the formation of their own
political action committee. Appropriately titled FLIXPAC, the just established-agency
will be able to endorse politicians by way of stuffing their pockets, which in turn could
influence even more congressmen to condone increasingly controversial bills that are
being considered in the House and the Senate.
Following the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act (or SOPA
and PIPA, respectively), Congress has been drafting an array of options that, if passed,
are being touted as the long-awaited solution to what lawmakers consider a dire
problem in the States: online piracy. While the newest SOPA-substituting legislation
have been authored already and ushered through Congress, the backing of streaming
behemoth Netflix could ensure that the next attempt at censoring the Web sees US
President Barack Obama signing it in no time.
Among the newest bills authored out of Washington is the Cyber Intelligence Sharing
and Protection Act, or CISPA . While proposed under the guise of legislation necessary
to implement federal protection from foreign and domestic cyberattacks, if passed
CISPA would also put in the hands of the government the power to monitor and
interfere with practically any online interactions. Only last week, George W. Bush’s
former special adviser on cybersecurity, Richard A. Clarke, also addressed the
necessity for such laws and proposed that the Department of Homeland Security start
moderating what goes in and out of the United States’ Internet “borders.”
The last time anti-piracy legislation came close to approval, massive Internet
campaigns stopped SOPA and PIPA dead in their tracks, but only after opponents
practically waged a war against the entertainment industry and supporters of the bills.
Netflix, a long-time opponent of online piracy, will now be able to endorse elected
officials by way of big-time contributions, with the PAC now approved to hand out up
to $5,000 per election. At the dawn of the SOPA scandal, Netflix was among the
entertainment industry titans to support the proposed bill, only to late alter their
stance as “neutral” amid massive public backlash. With other Internet services and
service providers still throwing their weight behind the newest anti-piracy bills,
however, Netflix is expected to follow suit, and use more than just urging to influence
lawmakers. As they become one of the biggest names in Hollywood, the pull Netflix
has over politicians could be major in terms of seeing CISPA or other similar acts are
signed.
While SOPA and PIPA saw support from both the Recording Industry Association of
America and the Motion Picture Association of America, the stance taken by Netflix in
terms of what Washington has to offer is bound to be only viewed as more important
as time goes by. Trade publication HIS Screen Digest released a study last week
estimating that the 3.4 billion online viewings expected to occur by the end of 2012
will outweigh 2.4 billion DVD and Blu-Ray disc views estimated for the same
timeframe. Additionally, online streams and downloads in 2011 were clocked at only
1.4, which showcases the seriousness of how Netflix will be respected in both
Washington and Hollywood in the coming months.
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