The U.S. Government has now Declared War on the Internet

[sigma2]

Basically:

New Law Would Force Search Engines to Block "Infringing" Sites

The proposed new PROTECT IP Act will allow private rights holders to seek court action against "rogue" websites that could see them cut off from third-party services and even blocked by search engines.

Introduced in September 2010, the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act would have authorized the Attorney General of the United States to pursue injunctions against websites "dedicated to infringing activities" preventing internet providers, credit card companies and advertising networks from doing business with them and also forcing the registrar of the offending domain name to suspend and possibly lock it. The bill met substantial opposition and ultimately died before it could be passed into law, but it's back again, with a brand new name and even more sweeping powers.

The "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act - that's right, the PROTECT IP Act, and who thinks of these ridiculous names, anyway? - is a direct descendant of COICA with a couple of important changes. First, it allows for "private right of action," which means that not only the Attorney General but also "a rights holder who is the victim of the infringement" can pursue action in the courts against "the owner, registrant or internet site dedicated to infringement, whether domestic or foreign," and second, it will also force search engines to censor such sites out of their lists.

On the upside, the private actions will only apply to "payment processors," which is to say credit card companies, and ad networks, not the service providers or search engines; but on the downside, the law will also strongly encourage online services like ad networks and search engines to self-censor by rendering them immune to damages if they voluntarily take action against sites they believe are violating copyright. In other words, sites that might be seen as infringing on copyright could find themselves cut off from the online services they need to survive. This provision alone could cripple start-ups that might otherwise be destined to become the next big thing; as Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/05/revised-net-censorship-bill-requires-search-engines-to-block-sites-too.ars] notes, both YouTube and Veoh have been sued by rightsholders in the past.

The PROTECT IP Act does provide safeguards in the form of appeals but they don't become available until after the court order has been issued and online service providers have been ordered to cut off their services. Furthermore, if a site that falls afoul of PROTECT IP moves to a new domain, the new sites will be subject to the same penalties. And while the new act no longer authorizes the Justice Department to seize U.S.-based domains, that is only because, as the text of the Act notes, the Homeland Security department has been so successful in doing so with laws that are already on the books that such powers are "redundant and may create confusion as to the appropriate mechanism for the Attorney General to target domestic domain names."

A summary of the PROTECT IP Act is available at leahy.senate.gov [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110510/13285714230/son-coica-protect-ip-act-will-allow-broad-censorship-powers-including-copyright-holders.shtml].



Permalink

Also...

PLEASE WATCH THE ENTIRETY OF THIS VIDEO AS IT CONTAINS
CRITICAL INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW to prevent websites like
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc. from being shut down as they operate today!
The fate of video game playthroughs, music videos, karaoke, pictures,
and censorship in general is at stake!

GO HERE to contact your lawmakers and make your voice be heard on the
matter: http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/pipa_house/
NOTE: DemandProgress does NOT give out your personal information.

All hell is gonna break loose man...

 

[CODE-D]

Simpsons did it
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.320151-The-US-Government-Wants-To-Fuck-The-Internet-Again

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

"The land of the free" is becoming as contradictory as the russian revolution, nothing surprising here.

maybe in 20 years the deep web will be something other than strange gore sites and illegal porn

I'd love to see them shut down facebook though, that would be fucking hilarious.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Did the original Bill Pass? No? Then I highly doubt this thing will make it either. Congress may be Dysfunctional, but it's not completely stupid.

 

[Woodsey]

"The land of the free" is becoming as contradictory as the russian revolution, nothing surprising here.

Has it ever not been a massive contradiction?

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Love the censor picture they threw in there.

Anyway, it just sounds silly to me. If the government deletes a website that's found harmful, it would just be brought up again the next day.

Silly american government! There's no stopping the internet.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

COME ON MY FELLOW INTERNET USERS!

ANYNMOUS, 4CHAN, HIPSTERS, AND BRONIES!

LET US STAND AGAINST THIS BILL IN UNITED PROTEST!

 

[Kolby Jack]

I'm sure this will go through and the entire face of everything will be changed by it. In no way are people, here and elsewhere, going to be overly dramatic about how this bill will affect things, nor will the US government be called the equivalent of a totalitarian system. People definitely WON'T forget about this in a month after the initial reaction dies down and EVERYONE will notice the changes made by the bill, which will totally survive long enough to make a huge impact Like I said.

Also, a similar bill with similar reactions definitely will NOT come around sometime next year and the cycle WON'T be repeating itself. I'm pretty sure about this.

Oh, and the topic title is IN NO WAY sensationalized and inaccurate, nor is it an incredibly transparent attempt to get more people to view the thread.

 

[Savagezion]

Man, I want to stab that guy in the video in the face every time he says "Okaay?" I hate people that do that when they talk. Oh yeah, and I also want to stab the government in its figurative face over shit like this.

Seriously, make it into a drinking game. You have to drink every time that fucker says "Okay?". You won't even make it halfway through the video before you are toasted.

 

[Terminate421]

Oh shit! This is going to be awful.

 

[Nurb]

This bill is like the one that kept coming up every year to make the VCR illegal, it won't pass.

 

[JemothSkarii]

COME ON MY FELLOW INTERNET USERS!

ANYNMOUS, 4CHAN, HIPSTERS, AND BRONIES!

LET US STAND AGAINST THIS BILL IN UNITED PROTEST!

Hipsters will be FOR it, y'know, since that isn't cool yet.

OT: All I can really say is 'Whut?'...Stupidity is increasing people's, soon nobody will be able to control it as it rampages through cities.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Ok, I don't pretend to understand anything about what that bill is supposed to do, but is anyone else getting annoyed at the American Government's insistance on trying to make the internet run on their countries rules? If this passes then couldn't we just implement a new, seperate, rival internet thoughout all countries excluding America, that doesn't have to abide by these restrictions.

Think about it, having different, seperate internets could run similar to different telephone companies, with different deals on them. A secure, safe internet used for purchases and business, an entertainment internet full of pirated goods and smut, an educational internet used by children and schools, etc. each one is limited to certain countries that allow the practices of that internet, so, for example, America couldn't get the pirate internet, but Finland could, and to switch between them you simply open a different browser on your desktop.

Ok, it's really unlikely and quite unfeasible, but could it theoretically happen on a smaller extent, such as a country-wide extranet, with seperate servers for its information, used for bootlegging movies and songs?

 

[Misterian]

Now the US government's being like China toward the Internet!

what other country does that?

 

[ace_of_something]

This bill is like the one that kept coming up every year to make the VCR illegal, it won't pass.

I actually remember that being on TV when I was wee. It's when my parents explained to me that the president doesn't decide everything (When I was a kid I found Reagan and most old people i'm not related to: to be very frightening)

 

[Gmans uncle]

Don't get too worried guys, It wont pass, neither will S.978
defiantly write your letters and send your E-mails, but don't have a panic attack, our congress may be dysfunctional but it's not stupid, it wont pass such a ridiculous bill, and the lawyers of Google, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are going to tear this thing apart.

Buuuuuuuuuuut on the off-chance either of them do pass, there's always Canada right?

 

[Lilani]

I think there is one word that can sum this up.

Seriously. They seem to be compounding their vague, far-fetched legislation that hasn't passed yet with even more vague, far-fetched legislation. They're stacking a house of cards on absolutely nothing. The only thing that's holding it up is the hot air of its ignorant supporters.