No. It is an utter fabrication to say that H.R. 5211 provides a safe harbor for copyright owners who have a "reasonable basis" to believe piracy is taking place. There simply is no "reasonable basis" language in the safe harbor created by H.R. 5211. The actual language of H.R. 5211 is clear: it only provides a safe harbor to copyright owners who actually impair the piracy of their copyrighted works through P2P networks - without regard to whether they have a reasonable basis to believe piracy is taking place. To put it another way: under H.R. 5211, a copyright owner who impairs lawful file-trading would not get the benefit of the safe harbor even if that copyright owner had a reasonable basis to believe piracy is taking place.

Does this bill protect computer users against overzealous or unscrupulous copyright owners that might abuse the safe harbor the bill provides?

Yes. H.R. 5211 provides strong protections against abuses by overzealous or unscrupulous copyright owners. In fact, H.R. 5211 provides computer users with more protection than current law. If a copyright owner engages in abusive actions, the affected computer user can sue the copyright owner for all remedies available under prior law, and in addition, can bring a new cause of action created by H.R. 5211. Furthermore, H.R. 5211 gives the U.S. Attorney General new power to stop an abusive copyright owner from ever again using self-help measures.

Does H.R. 5211 limit the ability of P2P users to sue a copyright owner for hacking, wrongfully stopping file-trading, or otherwise damaging their computers?

No. To the contrary, H.R. 5211 provides P2P users with More remedies against copyright owners who "hack", stop lawful file-trading, damage computers, or otherwise wrongfully interfere with file-trading. Subsection 514(f)(2) of H.R. 5211 specifically preserves all remedies that a P2P user or any other person, including network operators, may have under current law to sue copyright owners for such activities. In fact, H.R. 5211 provides affected P2P users with a new, additional cause of action against copyright owners who wrongfully impair lawful file-trading. Further, H.R. 5211 creates a new ability for federal prosecutors to act on behalf of affected file traders and stop copyright owners from wrongfully interfering with file-trading.

Does H.R. 5211 require P2P users to suffer more than $250 in damages before they can sue a copyright owner for hacking, wrongfully stopping file-trading, or otherwise damaging their computers?

No. An affected P2P user can sue a copyright owner in such circumstances under a wide variety of statutes and legal theories which have different monetary thresholds. H.R. 5211 does not alter these remedies or create a $250 threshold for using them. H.R. 5211 does create a brand-new cause of action, in addition to all previous causes of action, that contains a $250 threshold, but the creation of this new cause of action does not affect a P2P user's ability to also access other, pre-existing remedies.