EU Internet czar comes out against SOPA

[January 20, 2012]  BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union's Internet czar has added her voice to resistance of the Stop Online Piracy Act, in an unusually open comment on U.S. legislation.

Neelie Kroes, the EU's Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, tweeted Friday "Glad tide is turning on SOPA: don't need bad legislation when should be safeguarding benefits of open net."

The piece of legislation, currently in the House of Representatives, would allow the U.S. Justice Department to target legitimate sites where users share pirated content.

Outrage over SOPA earlier this week triggered a one-day blackout by Wikipedia's English-language service and sparked to growing scrutiny of the bill.

The EU is also struggling with its attempts to tackle online piracy -- but without restricting Internet freedom.

Kroes favors a less invasive approach, tweeting "Speeding is illegal too: but you don't put speed bumps on the motorway."

[Associated Press]

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