Posted on 11/21/2010 5:15:07 PM PST by NoLibZone
The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act passed unanimously through the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, but fortunately didn’t get much further. Oregonian Senator Ron Wyden exercised his power to place a hold on pending legislation to stop the bill from traveling to the senate floor, saying that
Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile.
His hold will prevent the bill passing out of committee this year; proponents of the bill will have to wait until the next time Congress convenes, and then try to reintroduce the measure.
If passed, the bill would allow the US Attorney General to seek judicial permission to order the shut down of any infringing domain name, where “infringing” means allowing access to anything that they don’t have the rights to. But wait, it gets better! If the site is not located in the US, it would also allow the USAG to get permission to tell ISPs, financial service providers, and advertisers to stop providing service to that domain. And, it would create two lists: one of sites that the AG has ordered taken down, which ISPs, financial services, and advertisers would be required to boycott; and one of sites that the AG has alleged are infringing, the boycotting of which would earn ISPs, financial services, and advertisers immunity from prosecution under the bill.
Regardless of your personal stance on files sharing, if you are a user of the internet, you should be able to see that this bill set an alarming precedent for the way our government responds to civil disputes in the online realm. It also makes no effort to allow otherwise infringing sites to distribute data that does not infringe. Could the bill, for example, allow the AG to shut down YouTube because users upload copyrighted content? Not to mention the potential use of the AG’s new powers for political reasons.
Cosponsors:
S. 3804:
Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act
Lamar Alexander [R-TN]
Evan Bayh [D-IN]
Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]
Thomas Coburn [R-OK]
Richard Durbin [D-IL]
Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
Lindsey Graham [R-S
Charles Grassley [R-IA]
Orrin Hatch [R-UT]
James Inhofe [R-OK]
Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
Herbert Kohl [D-WI]
Robert Menéndez [D-NJ]
Charles Schumer [D-NY]
Arlen Specter [D-PA]
George Voinovich [R-OH]
Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]
The republicans on this list need to hear from us!
Nuke the corrupt bastards to hell!!
The bill may be dead, but its spirit lives on through the FCC. They will do it behind our backs anyway.
The republicans behind this bill need to start looking for new jobs.
I thanked him for his hold.
Ironic that a Dem killed the bill (for now). But not surprising that the GOP members in the committee voted for it.
You lump Inhofe in there ?
Youtube is owned by Google, so no, a mainstream, corporate owned website will not be shut down.
But that isn’t really the point. The point is, the internet is not supposed to be controlled by anyone, let alone the gov’t acting in the service of the media companies.
And its dang sure not supposed to be controlled at the ISP level, by gov’t fiat! This is little different than the ‘Great Firewall of China’, and opens the door for that level of political control. IE, where places like Free Republic and pro lifers and even dissenters from the left, anything considered radical or controversial to the status quo gets shut down.
no one from MI, but surprise Herb Kohl D-WI. interesting he is up for relection in 2012. did you hear that Feingold will run against Kohl to gain a spot back as a sentor from Wisconsin in 2012? Defeat this bastard. Look at the republicans on the list. Hatch, Coburn, Inhofe, Graham (no surprise). keep these names in mind in your respective states dethrone Graham in his next run do not need a Log Cabin Republican(gay)
Nuke ‘em from orbit! (It’s the only way to be sure)
(Thank HEAVENS Voinovich will be gone in January!)
exactly!!!
Freeper Telephone assignment!!
The republicans listed are to be expected to be rino’s, but Inhofe surprised me, I didn’t know he was also one..
This bill has “Bipartisan” support because it is supported by a unique combination of communists and business interests. I am opposed to any “legal” approach to Internet governance.
Leave it alone, as it has been since its birth! Let the last “FREE” bastion thrive as it has. Do not screw it up!
Quite a surprise to see Coburn on that list. He doesn’t have major media in his State, so I simply cannot posit a rationale.
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Go along to get along. Their principle concern is living well. Nothing more than this, save reelection.
Agree with you, but the free internet is a greater threat to tyranny than the printing press. Expect increasing pressure, as even the dullest political hacks and toadies figure this out.
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