This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Some popular websites have protested two proposed United States laws aimed at fighting illegal copying of writing, movies and other intellectual property on the Internet. Wednesday, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, blacked out its English language website for twenty-four hours.
一些热门网站对美国两项旨在打击互联网上非法复制著作、电影和其它知识产权的提案发起抗议。周三,在线百科全书维基百科关闭其英语网站24小时(以示抗议)。
Jay Walsh is head of communications for the Wikimedia Foundation which operates Wikipedia.
杰伊·沃尔什(Jay Walsh)是维基百科运营商维基传媒基金会公关部门负责人。
JAY WALSH: "It is detrimental to the free and open web. It is detrimental to Wikipedia. And we want to make sure that we send a message."
沃尔什:“该提案不利于网络的自由和开放,不利于维基百科。我们想确保表达出我们自己的意见。”
The blogging site Boing Boing and Social news website Reddit also went black.
博客网站Boing Boing和社交新闻网站Reddit也变成了黑色。
Erik Martin is General Manager of Reddit.
埃里克·马丁是Reddit网站总经理。
ERIK MARTIN: "This is a really big deal and this is something we're going to fight, and this is something we think threatens the entire tech sector."
马丁:“该提案是一个真正的大事件,也是我们将要反对的东西。我们认为它会威胁到整个科技行业。”
Both Wikipedia and Reddit urged users to contact their Congressional representative to oppose the law. Even Internet search leader Google protested, although it continued to provide service.
维基百科和Reddit都督促用户联系他们的国会代表反对这项法律。甚至包括互联网搜索巨头Google也进行了抗议,虽然Google在抗议时并未关站。
The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act are known as SOPA and PIPA for short. Supporters say they are a way to fight foreign websites that sell pirated copies of American movies and music.
《禁止网络盗版法案》和《知识产权保护法案》也被简称为SOPA法案和PIPA法案。支持者说,这是打击销售盗版美国电影和音乐的国外网站的一种方式。
Steven Tepp is a lawyer with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He says piracy of books, music, movies and other forms of intellectual property hurt the economy and threaten jobs.
史蒂芬·特普(Steven Tepp)是美国商会的律师。他说,盗版书籍、音乐、电影和其它形式知识产权伤害到美国经济,威胁到美国就业。
STEVEN TEPP: "These rogue sites are hurting American jobs, stealing American jobs, they're harming American consumers and they have no business being on the Internet."
特普:“这些流氓网站伤害和窃取了美国的就业机会,损害了美国消费者利益。他们在互联网上没有商业存在价值。”
But many online businesses like blogs, news sites and search engines say the laws force them to become censors.
但许多类似博客、新闻网站和搜索引擎的互联网企业表示,该法案迫使他们成为审查员。
David Smith is with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. He says the proposed laws would hurt Wikipedia and other sites that depend on material provided by people who use the sites. He says websites would be required to police all the material they carry.
大卫·史密斯(David Smith)就职于波托马克政策研究所。他称这一提案会伤害到维基百科和其它依赖于用户提供材料的网站。他表示,网站会被要求对所有刊登的材料进行审核。
DAVID SMITH: "It creates a legal situation in which a complainant can go before a judge and get an order, and it then makes the various Internet companies, the Internet service providers, responsible for what they're carrying. And, this is where the rub (problem) comes, because it basically turns the Internet service provider into a monitor."
史密斯:“该法案导致这样一种法律状况,投诉人可以去找法官获得指令,让各类作为互联网服务提供商的互联网公司对他们刊登的材料负责。这就是问题所在,因为这会让互联网服务提供商变成监控人员。”
The House and Senate are expected to work on the bills in the coming weeks. But after the online protests, some lawmakers have already said they have doubts about the bill. Republican Senator Marco Rubio urged lawmakers to take more time to consider the concerns of both supporters and opponents of the bills.
众、参两院预计在未来数周着手该法案。但在网上抗议后,一些国会议员已经表示,他们对这项法案心存疑虑。共和党参议员马可·卢比奥(Marco Rubio)敦促国会议员花费更多时间考虑该法案支持者和反对者的担忧。
Obama administration spokesman John Carney said the president opposes any law that hurts freedom of expression or security.
奥巴马政府发言人约翰·卡尼(John Carney)表示,总统反对任何伤害言论自由和安全的法案。
On Wednesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner admitted there is now a lack of agreement among lawmakers on the bills.
本周三,众议院议长约翰·博纳(John Boehner)承认,目前国会议员在该法案上缺乏共识。
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