Protect IP Act, the Anti-Piracy Censorship Bill Passes Senate Committee

[nsane.forums]

The controversial PROTECT IP Act unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee today. When the PROTECT IP Act becomes law U.S. authorities and copyright holders have the power to seize domains, block websites and censor search engines, to prevent copyright infringements. Introduced just two weeks ago, the bill is now heads over to the Senate for further consideration and another vote.

The U.S. Government continues to back legislation that opens the door to unprecedented Internet censorship. Two weeks ago a group of U.S. senators proposed legislation to make it easier to crack down on so-called rogue websites, and today the Senate's Judicial Committee unanimously approved the bill.

When the PROTECT IP Act becomes law the authorities can legitimately seize any domain name they deem to be facilitating copyright infringement. All that's required to do so is a preliminary order from the court. But that's just the start, the bill in fact provides a broad range of censorship tools.

In case a domain is not registered or controlled by a U.S. company, the authorities can also order search engines to remove the website from its search results, order ISPs to block the website, and order ad-networks and payment processors to stop providing services to the website in question.

Backers of the bill argue that the PROTECT IP Act is needed as an extension of the already controversial domain seizures. As reported previously, it is now relatively easy for a seized website to continue operating under a new non-US based domain name.

Not everyone agrees with this stance. Yesterday several Internet giants including Google, Yahoo, eBay and American Express asked the Senate Committee not to adopt the bill, warning it would "undoubtedly inhibit innovation and economic growth."

However, the concerns the companies raised did not affect the vote today.

"Today the Judiciary Committee took an important step in protecting online intellectual property rights. The Internet is not a lawless free-for-all where anything goes," commented Senator Orrin Hatch. "The Constitution protects both property and speech, both online and off."

"The PROTECT IP Act targets the most egregious actors, and is an important first step to putting a stop to online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods," Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said commenting on the importance of the bill.

"Both law enforcement and rights holders are currently limited in the remedies available to combat websites dedicated to offering infringing content and products. These rogue websites are often foreign-owned and operated, or reside at domain names that are not registered through a U.S.-based registry or registrar," Leahy added.

Similar comments were made by the other Committee members and the various entertainment industry lobby groups.

For Hollywood and the major record labels The PROTECT IP Act is the legislation they dreamed of for a long time. It allows for copyright holders to obtain a court order to seize a domain, or prevent payment providers and ad-networks from doing business with sites that allegedly facilitate copyright infringement. All without due process.

The PROTECT IP Act will now move on to the Senate where it's expected to be opposed by Senator Ron Wyden, who also stopped the bill's predecessor COICA fearing it would stifle free speech. Whether it will be enough to prevent the legislation from becoming law has yet to be seen.

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[DKT27]

Some (good) update on it.

[CODYQX4]

Unanimous support for something that will screw all but the companies only shows the government doesn't give a damn about the people, they are all corporate owned scumbags.

[DKT27]

Sen. Ron Wyden places a "hold" on the PROTECT IP Act

The office of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) tells Ars that the just-passed-out-of-committee PROTECT IP Act (S. 968) isn't going anywhere once it hits the floor.

"Senator Wyden plans to hold the bill," said his office by e-mail. "We will have a longer statement shortly."

Wyden called last year's version of the Internet blacklist bill a "bunker-busting cluster bomb" when precision-guided munitions would be better suited to dealing with copyright and patent infringement on the Internet. He placed a hold on that bill, which kept it from coming to the floor.

Now, he's at it again after the PROTECT IP Act failed to incorporate enough of his desired changes.

A Senate hold is, according to the Senate, "An informal practice by which a Senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure."

More controversial recently have been "secret" holds in which the name of the senator was withheld and legislation simply stopped; the Senate voted to end that practice earlier this year, though the rule won't apply until the next Congress.

Update: Wyden's office has just sent out his explanation for the hold:

"In December of last year I placed a hold on similar legislation, commonly called COICA, because I felt the costs of the legislation far outweighed the benefits. After careful analysis of the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, I am compelled to draw the same conclusion. I understand and agree with the goal of the legislation, to protect intellectual property and combat commerce in counterfeit goods, but I am not willing to muzzle speech and stifle innovation and economic growth to achieve this objective. At the expense of legitimate commerce, PIPA's prescription takes an overreaching approach to policing the Internet when a more balanced and targeted approach would be more effective. The collateral damage of this approach is speech, innovation and the very integrity of the Internet.

"The Internet represents the shipping lane of the 21st century. It is increasingly in America's economic interest to ensure that the Internet is a viable means for American innovation, commerce, and the advancement of our ideals that empower people all around the world. By ceding control of the Internet to corporations through a private right of action, and to government agencies that do not sufficiently understand and value the Internet, PIPA represents a threat to our economic future and to our international objectives. Until the many issues that I and others have raised with this legislation are addressed, I will object to a unanimous consent request to proceed to the legislation."

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[myidisbb]

he still hasnt doen anything to stop the illegal use of ICE to steal websites by this admin.