Dec. 13, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement in opposition to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith’s manager’s amendment to HR 3261:

“Even with the changes proposed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith, this bill will essentially criminalize the Internet, making it impossible to upload and share content. Any service that allows for storing files or posting hyperlinks could be targeted, and on the Internet, that’s everything. In cyberspace, this is like trying to pass a law against breathing. Copyright can be protected on the Internet, but it will be done by adapting copyright law to the technology, not by outlawing the technology.

“This legislation will still give government the power to censor the Internet in the name of protecting copyright. It will still threaten any website, including social networks and search engines that allow users to upload content, with being shut down. This legislation will still take the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and chuck them in the garbage. Those safe harbor provisions protected websites that provided easy takedown procedures for potential infringing materials, and already had a system in place for their removal.

“The bill will still allow copyright holders to pursue private actions against alleged infringing websites with the force of law behind them, including seeking the termination of advertising and payment services, whether the site is foreign or domestic.

“Finally, even with its so-called ‘savings’ clauses, this bill will still risk placing unfeasible, court-ordered technology mandates on Internet service providers requiring websites to somehow prevent their services from being used to post infringing material, even if doing so is technically impossible. To avoid litigation, Internet companies will simply stop allowing uploading and file sharing.

“Censorship is never the solution. Internet piracy can be combated without a regime of suppression that threatens activities that are protected by the First Amendment. This will have a chilling effect on what is in effect cyber speech: on uploading, posting and sharing files. That it is the heart of the Internet, and it is being gutted by this legislation.”

Attachments:

“Internet piracy bill: A free speech ‘kill switch‘,” ALG President Bill Wilson, The Hill (Dec. 12, 2011) at http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/198687-internet-piracy-bill-a-free-speech-kill-switch.

Interview with ALG President Bill Wilson, WGEM, Hosts Rich Cain and Lindsey Hess, Quincy, IL (Dec. 12, 2011) at http://my.wgem.com/_Bill-Wilson-Americans-for-Limited-Govt/audio/916294/29404.html.

“Legislation by Rep. Lamar Smith equals Internet censorship,” ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano (Dec. 12, 2011) at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/12/legislation-by-rep-lamar-smith-equals-internet-censorship/.

Bipartisan Letter from Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Darrell Issa against Internet Censorship Bill (Nov. 8, 2011) at http://gov20.govfresh.com/issa-and-lofgren-dear-colleague-letter-versus-sopa/.

Three Libertarians Raise Concerns about the Stop Online Piracy Act, Cato Institute (Nov. 7, 2011) at http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/three-libertarians-raise-concerns-about-the-stop-online-piracy-act/.

“Guilty until proven innocent,” By ALG Communications Director Rick Manning, Nov. 16, 2011 at http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/193901-guilty-until-proven-innocent.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 12, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised 83 cosponsors of legislation by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers that would bring an end to any U.S. involvement via the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail out European banks that bet poorly on sovereign debt:

“All indications coming out of the recent European summit are that the IMF will play a leading role in bailing out European financial institutions that bet poorly on sovereign debt through some $200 billion house of cards scheme. This would include regional European central banks ‘lending’ money to the Fund only to be funneled back into European bond markets, all in violation of the Article VII of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, and the Lisbon Treaty’s Article 123 prohibition on monetizing the debt.

“This means U.S. taxpayers, who have already poured at least $20 billion into propping up Portugal, Greece, and Ireland through the IMF, will again be on the hook when the European governments default on their debt. The 83 cosponsors of this legislation deserve the thanks of American taxpayers, who don’t want to have anything to do with bailing out the bad decisions of foreign banks and European socialist governments.

“HR 2313 should be passed immediately, so that whatever remains of the nation’s $100 billion credit line to the IMF is pulled back before it is wasted on a costly bailout that will not work. Now is the time for the House to draw a line in the sand.”

Attachments:

“Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers says ‘No’ to IMF European Bailouts,” Video, Dec. 5, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/12/rep-cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-says-no-to-imf-european-bailouts/ .

“Obama says U.S. ‘stands ready to do our part to help’ bail out Europe,” ALG President Bill Wilson, Nov. 29, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3880 .

“Democracy cancelled in the lands that founded it,” ALG President Bill Wilson, Nov. 17, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3823 .

“U.S. has already provided $20 billion to bail out Europe,” By Robert Romano, ALG Senior Editor, Nov. 3, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/11/u-s-has-already-provided-20-billion-to-bail-out-europe/ .

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 9, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged members of the House Judiciary Committee to reject legislation he said would “give the government power to censor the Internet.”

“Nobody likes Internet piracy, but this legislation is going to create a regime of Internet censorship in the name of protecting copyright. This will particularly endanger social networking sites, search engines, and any website that allows users to upload content of being shut down,” Wilson warned.

“Why would anyone want to give government the power to shut down websites?” Wilson asked, adding, “There are already sufficient protections for copyright under existing law, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.”

Wilson expressed concern that the “safe harbor” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act would be undermined by the new legislation, which protects social websites that provide for easy takedown procedures for potential infringing materials.

“Under current law, rights holders can inform a website that it has infringing material and ask that it is removed, and failing that, can already take action,” Wilson noted. “This takes the safe harbor provisions of current law and throws them in the garbage for websites that have been diligent in following the rules.”

The legislation, HR 3261, would also allow copyright holders to take private actions against alleged infringing websites with the force of law behind them, including seeking the termination of advertising and payment services.

Wilson called it “overkill,” calling it a “death sentence for Internet service providers” noting that websites can have millions of pages, and that under the legislation revenue streams or the website itself could be shut down if just a single page of a site is found to have infringing material.

“The bill also risks placing onerous mandates on Internet service providers that would require websites to somehow prevent their services from being used to post infringing material, even if it’s technologically impossible to do so,” Wilson warned.

“This bill will be the end of social networking all together and it must be defeated. Censorship is not the solution to Internet piracy,” Wilson concluded.

HR 3261 is expected to be voted on in the House Judiciary Committee next week.

Attachments:

“Guilty until proven innocent,” By ALG Communications Director Rick Manning, Nov. 16, 2011 at http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/193901-guilty-until-proven-innocent.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 8, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to clarify to taxpayers that the U.S. will have no role in bailing out Europe.

Wilson’s letter came in response to Geithner’s denial that the Federal Reserve is bailing out Europe. At a recent press conference with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Geithner told reporters that “I would say the reports I’ve read in the press about what the Fed can do are not accurate.”

Wilson is not convinced, writing in his letter, “Recall that it took Freedom of Information Act requests being enforced by federal courts and an audit ordered by Congress to reveal trillions of dollars of emergency loans given to foreign banks by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis, and also $442.7 billion given directly to purchase agency-issued mortgage-backed securities.”

Wilson asked Geithner for verification, “How are taxpayers to know if you are telling the truth? How can they even verify what role the Fed may be currently playing in Europe?”

The recipients of emergency loans are not typically published by the central bank without an audit or some other form of outside intervention.

The letter also inquired if there were any plans at the IMF to boost its lending capacity by borrowing the money elsewhere, if not from the Federal Reserve. Wilson cited Article VII of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement that stipulates the Fund can only borrow money “to replenish its holdings on any member’s currency.”

Wilson wrote, “[The IMF] cannot borrow money in order to boost its own lending capacity. The only way to do that would be to expand the IMF’s quotas, which requires congressional consent in the U.S.”

The U.S. funds 17.72 percent of the IMF, and Wilson warned that should the IMF borrow money to boost its lending capacity, and the European debts were to default anyway, then U.S. taxpayers would still be on the hook for the losses.

Legislation by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, HR 2313, would rescind whatever remains of the nation’s $100 billion line of credit to the IMF. It already has 58 cosponsors, whom Wilson praised as “heroes” on behalf of taxpayers.

Wilson concluded by imploring Geithner to reject any American involvement with a bailout of European banks that bet poorly on sovereign debt, writing, “It is your duty to categorically state that U.S. taxpayers will not back up or cover any European bailout through the IMF, whether through an increase of its quotas or by borrowing the funds through a house of cards scheme.”

Attachments:

ALG President Bill Wilson’s Letter to U.S. Treasury Timothy Geithner, Dec. 8, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/LetterIMFTreasuryFed 12-8-11.pdf.

Article VII of IMF Articles of Agreement at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/aa/index.htm#art7.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 6, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement praised Senate Republicans for rejecting a cloture motion on D.C. Circuit Court nominee Caitlin Halligan:

“Senate Republicans have done the right thing by blocking a radical, unqualified ideologue, Caitlin Halligan, from taking a seat on the federal bench. Along with Goodwin Liu, Halligan’s nomination marked a move by the Obama White House to reshape the federal judiciary into a cabal of leftists. Americans everywhere urge the Senate and Senate Republicans to maintain this stand against Obama’s takeover of the judiciary.”

Attachments:

Caitlin Halligan Nominee Alert, Americans for Limited Government, Feb. 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/Caitlin Halligan NomineeAlert.pdf.

“ALG Urges Senate to Reject Cloture on D.C. Circuit Nominee Halligan,” Dec. 5, 2011 at http://getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=796.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 5, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement urged the Senate to reject a cloture D.C. Circuit Court nominee Caitlin Halligan:

“Not only does she have no prior experience as a judge, Caitlin Halligan is yet another judicial activist who makes up the law as she sees fit, making her unfit to serve on the bench.

“In a brief filed on behalf of the abortion industry in one case, she supported applying racketeering laws against prolife activists for merely expressing their First Amendment rights. Ironically, she sat on a committee that supported extending due process protections to non-citizens captured on the battlefield overseas in the prosecution of a war.

“This sort of constitutional flexibility, which seeks to use the force of law to suppress political opponents and yet protect America’s enemies, is abhorrent to most Americans. The Senate should reject cloture on Halligan.”

Attachments:

Caitlin Halligan Nominee Alert, Americans for Limited Government, Feb. 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/Caitlin Halligan NomineeAlert.pdf.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 2, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson responds to today’s unemployment numbers:

“Obama’s Labor Department report on the unemployment rate no longer passes the smell test as an accurate indicator of economic activity. The fact that the rate dropped almost half a percentage point to 8.6 in spite of the fact that the economy created fewer jobs than is necessary to meet the needs of Americans entering the workforce, puts the final nail in the coffin of the rate having any basis as a realistic indicator of the health of the U.S. economy.

“When you look behind the rate, you discover that the percentage of people who are participating in the workforce declined to 64 percent, with the workforce shrinking by one half of 1 percent in the past year alone. One percent in the labor participation rate equates to approximately 1.5 million Americans.

“Shockingly, fewer Americans are in the workforce today than a year ago. This is a startling indictment of Obama’s economic policy that has driven approximately 1.5 million Americans out of the workforce. Rather than hope, Obama has delivered economic despair.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Dec. 1, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement praised the House for passing legislation that would kill an NLRB proposed rule to shorten union electionsin order to curtail the time businesses have to make their case to their employees:

“The House is to be praised for voting on legislation that will kill the NLRB’s attempt to institute snap elections on behalf of union organizers. The rule, if implemented, will shorten the time businesses have to make their case to their employees. All of this is designed to expedite the unionization process on behalf of big labor. We thank members for standing up to the union bosses.”

Attachments:

“ALG Urges Support for Kline Bill to Kill NLRB Snap Elections,” Nov. 29, 2011 at http://getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=792.

“Treating the NLRB symptoms not enough,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, Sept. 21, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/09/treating-the-nlrb-symptoms-not-enough/.

the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend poll on behalf of Americans for Limited Government regarding National Labor Relations Board, Aug. 19-23, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/NLRBPoll8-19to8-23-11.pdf.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Nov. 29, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement urged the House to adopt legislation proposed by Rep. John Kline, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, that would kill an NLRB proposed rule to shorten union elections in order to curtail the time businesses have to make their case to their employees:

“The NLRB is aggressively attempting to institute snap elections on behalf of unions, shortening the amount of time businesses will have to make their case to their employees. This has been on the top of big labor’s to-do list under the Obama Administration, and now the Board is attempting to proceed with the rule with just two members in favor.

“The agency is in such a rush to implement the rule prior to Craig Becker’s recess appointment expiring that Board Member Brian Hayes has not even been allowed to craft an official dissent to the rule prior to its adoption. This is simply outrageous, and goes against decades of precedent intended to protect the board’s legitimacy.

“Rep. John Kline’s legislation, HR 3094, should be adopted immediately to rein in this abusive power grab by the NLRB. However, the rulemaking is really unsurprising and should underscore just how out-of-control this agency really is.

“It is not enough to treat the symptoms of the agency’s overreaching quasi-judicial powers with mere stopgap measures. Congress must address this rogue agency in a comprehensive manner that will abolish its powers to serve as prosecutor, judge, and jury in favor of unions by also adopting HR 2978 by Rep. Austin Scott.”

Attachments:

“Treating the NLRB symptoms not enough,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, September 21st, 2011 athttp://netrightdaily.com/2011/09/treating-the-nlrb-symptoms-not-enough/.

the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend poll on behalf of Americans for Limited Government regarding National Labor Relations Board, Aug. 19-23, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/NLRBPoll8-19to8-23-11.pdf.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

###