The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), , would allow U.S. law enforcement officials to shut down websites alleged to enable or facilitate copyright infringement, leading some critics to say the bill would of the Internet.

On Friday, the Directors Guild of America, a supporter of SOPA, distributed copies of letters exchanged between SOPA co-sponsor Representative Howard Berman, a California Democrat, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Berman, in a Sept. 8 letter, asked Clinton if the State Department's focus on pushing Internet freedoms worldwide is consistent with a policy of protecting intellectual property (IP) rights.

Opponents of IP protections bills have "repeatedly mischaracterized" Clinton's position on copyright and Internet freedom, Berman wrote, and he asked Clinton to "set the record straight." Opponents "claim that U.S. efforts to stop online IP theft may provide an excuse for regimes that suppress dissent by curtailing Internet freedom," he wrote.

Clinton, in an Oct. 25 letter, told Berman that she sees IP protection and Internet freedom as consistent goals. "There is no contradiction between intellectual property rights protections and enforcement and ensuring freedom of expression on the Internet," she wrote.

On Thursday, the Council of Better Business Bureaus joined the list of organizations , the PROTECT IP Act.