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ISPs Targeted In New Bill To Battle Online Piracy
By John Vinson
Expert Author
Article Date: 2010-10-01
Many internet users in the United States don't realize a lot of the pirated content being accessed is from foreign countries. Being so, means the US government has their hands tied when trying to stop these sites from releasing pirated content. However, a new bill proposed by US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) would give the Department of Justice (DoJ) the power necessary to keep these sites from appearing stateside. It's causing an uproar from privacy advocates, who believe it provides too much power.
The bill is titled 'Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act'. The gist is it provides the DoJ the power of 'in rem'; this allows them to file a suit against property instead of people. This includes websites. If a suit is upheld it then gives the DoJ power to call for domain registrars, and ISPs to prevent access to particular domains.
Along with allowing the DoJ to pursue a suit, it gives them power to construct a list of sites who are infringing on property rights. In essence, "creating a black list".
Due to the power of the bill, many privacy advocates have been worried about the general wording of the legislation. Specifically, they believe many law abiding sites could be affected by the bill. Also, the power to provide the DoJ to create a 'site blacklist' would put more pressure on ISPs and registrars than necessary. Especially if the DoJ simply issued a court order.
Aaron Swartz, executive director of Demand Progresshas been the most vocal concerning the bill,
"This kind of Internet censorship is exactly the sort of thing the US government has been criticizing China and Iran for," Swartz said.
"I don't think it makes sense for the U.S. to use a censorship regimen," to deal with IP protection issues, Swartz said. "Anytime you use a censorship regime, there is a temptation to use it for more and more [unrelated objectives]."
Many internet enthusiasts and power players have constructed an open letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee to stop this bill from moving forward. One of these members is David Reed, a developer of the TCP/IP protocol.
Leahy's office has responded to the concerns being presented. He's played down many of the privacy advocates' concerns, by saying the bill would only target the "worst offenders". Also, in order to apply pressure on an ISP or registrar, court approval would be needed.
ISPs are basically in the middle of this battle, as they will many times be the targets of these court orders. Although the bill protects them against civil suit if they comply with the original court order, more pressure will be put against than ever before.
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for WebProNews.
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