One Punch Doug Crashin
I AM INVINSIBLE!
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/91339/senate-committee-approves-web-censorship-by-unanimous-vote/
http://torrentfreak.com/senate-passes-bill-to-quash-pirate-websites-101118/
First Amendment violations FTW!!!!!!
http://torrentfreak.com/senate-passes-bill-to-quash-pirate-websites-101118/
he U.S. Senate’s Judicial Committee unanimously passed the controversial ‘Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act’ today, a bill that could be used to crack down on many BitTorrent sites and other file-sharing platforms. The bill would give the Department of Justice the unprecedented power to take over domain names of websites that are deemed to facilitate copyright infringement.
As was demonstrated earlier this year, taking the domains of suspected sites has proven to be a highly effective tool to shut down sites that are considered illegal. In September, a group of U.S. senators proposed legislation to make this a standard procedure, and today the Senate’s Judicial Committee unanimously supported the bill.
Before it becomes law the bill will have to be approved by the Senate and Congress, which has to happen quickly because a new Congress will be seated in January.
If signed into law, the ‘Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act’ (COICA) would allow the Department of Justice to file a civil lawsuit against the domain owners. If the courts then decide that a site is indeed promoting copyright infringement, the DOJ can order the domain registrar to take the domain offline. The bill is not limited to domestics offenders, but also allows the DOJ to target foreign domain owners.
The targets of the bill could possibly include many BitTorrent sites. Last week both the MPAA and RIAA submitted their wishlists of “rogue websites” that should be taken care of, and these included The Pirate Bay, isoHunt, Demonoid and other popular torrent sites.
Although none of the operators of these sites will be happy with the new legislation, Demonoid has been opposing COICA in public, asking its members to take action.
“If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US,” a message on the Demonoid homepage reads.
Aside from classic ‘pirate’ websites, the bill also conveniently provides an effective backdoor to take the whistleblower site Wikileaks offline, or its domain at least. After all, Wikileaks has posted thousands of files that are owned by the United States.
If the bill is accepted it will change the Internet and how domain names are controlled for good. Thus far, no central government has the power to take over domains. This power belongs exclusively to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Over the last weeks, several digital rights groups including the EFF have voiced their concerns over the new legislation, calling it an “unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech and a threat to innovation” and claiming it “would break the Internet.”
The protests and opposition are expected to continue during the next weeks, but meanwhile the RIAA and MPAA are applauding the Government’s actions.
US Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary approves the Combating Online Infringement & Counterfeits Act by unanimous vote – 19-0.
In a blow to free speech advocates that hoped for an early demise of the controversial Combating Online Infringement & Counterfeits Act, the US Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary has just approved by the Bill by unanimous vote – 19-0.
First proposed back in September, the COICA would give the Department of Justice an “expedited process” for cracking down on websites that illegally make copyrighted material available, including the ability to “prevent the importation into the United States of goods and services offered by an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities.”
The Bill’s sponsors believe the COICA would finally give the Dept of Justice the tools it needs to track and shut down “websites devoted to providing access to unauthorized downloads, streaming or sale of copyrighted content and counterfeit goods.”
“We are proud to lend our voice to the chorus of supporters of this important bipartisan legislation,” says Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO, of the RIAA. “In a world where hackers and copyright thieves are able to take down websites, rip off American consumers and rake in huge profits operating rogue businesses built on the backs of the American creative community, the committee has taken a strong step toward fostering a more safe and secure online experience for consumers.”
Critics have criticized the legislation for being tantamount to illegal censorship of the web by placing unconstitutional prior restraints on speech with inadequate due process.
“With this first vote, Congress has begun to strike at the lifeline of foreign scam sites, while protecting free speech and boosting the legal online marketplace,” adds Bainwol.
How is Congress “protecting free speech” while blocking entire sites? How about the fact that if passed search engines like The Pirate Bay, which hosts no copyrighted material, would likely be blocked? The RIAA concluded it on its list of “notorious sites” for a reason.
There’s also the matter of the US govt setting a precedent that any country can seize or order the blocking of a domain name if some of the content on the domain (even if located elsewhere) violates the country’s local laws.
A group of 87 prominent engineers who played critical roles in the development of the Internet have said that the “legislation “will risk fragmenting the Internet’s global domain name system (DNS), create an environment of tremendous fear and uncertainty for technological innovation, and seriously harm the credibility of the United States in its role as a steward of key Internet infrastructure.”
But, none of this seems to matter to copyright holders looking to block “rogue” websites. Nevermind the fact that it will create no new revenue for the American economy since they is really none to capture. File-sharers aren’t sending money overseas since they’re downloading or streaming copyrighted content for FREE, and if the Bill does cause them to suddenly buy copyrighted material from legal sources it’s less money spent ion other areas of the US economy. It’s a zero sum game.
There’s also the pesky matter of circumvention. All you have to do is connect to your favorite proxy or VPN to bypass the filter, or simply do the easy thing and type in the domains IP address.
I guess asking Congress to focus on balancing the budget and CREATING jobs is too much to ask.
Stay tuned.
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First Amendment violations FTW!!!!!!
