January 18, 2012
Dear Senators Schumer and Gillibrand,
On behalf of the 182,000 members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada (IATSE), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) who live in New York State, we thank you for your co-sponsorship and support of the PROTECT IP Act. We know the pressure that you are getting to renege on your commitment. We are the voice of thousands of individuals who thank you for standing steadfast against this barrage and in support of the jobs of our members.
We represent the creators, performers, craftspeople and technicians who make possible the very films, television programs, and sounds recordings that are enjoyed by billions of people around the world and represent our nation’s most recognizable export—an export that often has the face of New York on it. We have long made clear our support for effective bipartisan legislation to fight offshore profiteers who knowingly operate illegal (rogue) websites that sell content illicitly gained and in which they had no role in creating or financing. The PROTECT IP Act does nothing more than make it possible for the U.S. government to handle illegal foreign websites in the same manner it can already do—and has been doing-- with illegal U.S. sites. It has no impact on all the legal U.S. sites that people are being told will disappear under the PROTECT IP Act, nor will it keep American citizens from the Internet they know and depend on.
We are well aware that opposition voices, funded and encouraged by a few enormous Internet companies like Google that stand to lose billions in illicit profit (as shown by Google’s willingness to pay a $500 million fine for knowingly placing ads on illegal pharmaceutical sites), if the bills are allowed to become law, have grown louder and shriller in an effort to sway public opinion and derail the political process. They have successfully diverted support away from the bills by blanketing the Internet with mistruths and lies and using fear tactics and blacklists to overwhelm and intimidate those who should stand up for protecting American creativity and American workers. In some instances they have even kept our voice off the Internet in an effort to stall any who don’t agree with them.
But despite all the noise, it must be noted that these opposition voices represent relatively few American workers. Google, for instance, employed just 31,000 people worldwide in 2011 while our guilds and unions alone collectively represent over 400,000 members of the entertainment community. Together with the other members of our community as well as the rest of the broad and diverse coalition supporting rogue sites legislation, we represent millions of artists, creators, innovators, and small and large businesses across the country and in New York State that stand behind you in the battle to protect American intellectual property.
Further, we are greatly offended that our advocacy for this bill has turned into an implication that we promote censorship. Our commitment to the First Amendment is decades old and long established—it is a matter of public record from long before the word “Internet” was part of our vocabulary. Freedom of Expression is the very foundation of the work our members create and of the business in which they work. Moreover, stealing is not free speech. We are equally as offended at the implication that we are part of an “industry of the past” standing in the way of the innovation of the future. Our members work at the very intersection of creativity and technology; what the public sees on the screen today is ample evidence of that. Technology companies do not have the only claim to innovation and for them to claim so is absurd.
America’s greatest strength is our creativity and innovative spirit. Those strengths, personified in our membership, are under attack from foreign profiteers. We thank you for understanding the true nature of this crime and the truth behind the current debate, and for your support of legislation that protects American content, jobs, and the future creators of this great country. We look forward to our continued work with you towards this goal.
Sincerely,
American Federation of Musicians (AFM)
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
Directors Guild of America (DGA)
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)