Fox News Business - CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt blasted proposed legislation to tighten online copyright regulation on Tuesday, saying the bills would lead to censorship of the Internet.
Intended to combat the trade in pirated movies and music, the two bills would give copyright holders and law enforcement officials added powers to cut off websites and require search engines, payment collectors and others to block access.
“The solutions are draconian,” Schmidt said during an appearance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “There’s a bill that would require (Internet service providers) to remove URLs from the Web, which is also known as censorship last time I checked.”
Schmidt said content owners like Hollywood studios have a legitimate problem, since increasing trading of pirated movies threatens their revenue.
“Their business models are threatened by theft,” Schmidt said. “We don’t endorse it. Please don’t do it. If you’re doing it, stop. I hope that’s very clear.” More
