An Internet censorship bill to combat online piracy goes back to the Senate Nov. 18 after being delayed in September. If passed, the bill will allow the attorney general to remove websites that violate copyright laws.
Known as the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), Senate bill S.3804, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is up for markup by the Senate Judiciary Committee and “could pass out of committee during the ‘lame duck’ session of Congress,” states an analysis by digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The bill aims to eliminate online piracy by targeting websites that engage in copyright infringement either directly or indirectly. It could range anywhere from a site that posts external links to watch free movies online, to a website that allows users to download pirated content directly.
“Rather than just targeting files that actually infringe copyright law, COICA’s ‘nuclear-option’ design has the government blacklisting entire sites out of the domain name system—a reckless scheme that will undermine global Internet infrastructure and censor legitimate online speech,” states the EFF analysis.
There are two main voices on the side that opposes the COICA bill, the strongest being that it is a step toward Internet censorship that the United States should not be taking; the second being that websites that play an indirect role in copyright infringement will become targets.
There is also concern that the bill would give the United States less credibility when addressing Internet freedom with countries where such freedoms are nearly vacant, such as China.
One thing is certain, however, which is that there is a tug-of-war currently taking place over the direction of the Internet, and this bill represents a major crossroad.
There has been heavy controversy surrounding the bill, and even some of the creators of the Internet themselves have come out to give their two cents.
“If enacted, this 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,” states the open letter from 89 individuals, including editor of HTTP protocol standards Jim Gettys, Internet Systems Consortium President Paul Vixie, and the creator of e-mail standards John Vittal.
“Senators, we believe the Internet is too important and too valuable to be endangered in this way, and implore you to put this bill aside,” the letter concludes.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Human Rights Watch, and seven other organizations issued an open letter stating that “we believe that key provisions in the bill will result in serious unintended consequences for freedom of expression and human rights on the Internet, undermining global Internet freedom abroad.”
Online Piracy
The entertainment industry has taken a very different note regarding the COICA bill, as piracy wreaks havoc on the industry.
“It is estimated that the U.S. economy loses 373,375 jobs annually due to piracy,” states a Department of Professional Employees 2010 fact sheet.
It adds that in 2005, the music industry lost an estimated $12.5 billion to piracy, and the motion picture industry is estimated to lose $20.5 billion annually.
A Sept. 29 letter issued by four key organizations, including the Directors Guild of America, represents more than 300,000 “creators, film talent, and craftspeople who create a multitude of diverse films, television programs, and sound recordings that are sought after by consumers around the world.”
It states that the websites the bill will affect “look legitimate, but make no mistake—these sites are illegal and they are trafficking in illegally-obtained content, with only one goal in mind: making money.”
It adds, “The opposition to this legislation will do all they can to confuse this reality. ... They will turn a blind eye to the looting of one of the strongest American industries by profiteers who contribute nothing to our economy or our culture.”
Currently, nearly any movie can be watched in length on a handful of websites, including Megavideo.com and Statevu.com. Typically, such websites do have anti-piracy standards—and regularly remove videos that violate these standards—yet aren’t able to keep up with user uploads.
Several websites were pulled from the Web a few months back. Although the websites didn’t carry any illegal videos themselves, they specialized in posting links to external websites where users could watch nearly any film. There are many similar sites still online, and many others have emerged since the removal.
The new bill would allow for more sweeping efforts such as this to take place, and with more ease.
There is also a community of users who download videos, games, and other content through P2P file sharing networks. There was also a crackdown on these users not long back by the U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) that hit more than 14,000 random users who illegally downloaded films including “Far Cry” and “The Hurt Locker.”
The USCG threatened them with “a judgment of up to $150,000 per downloaded movie,” according to the EFF, but gave them an option to “settle quickly for $1,500-$2,500 per person.”
Among the more well-known piracy cases are the pre-release of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, which was released before it even hit theaters. Even the first portion of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1” can already be found online.
Known as the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), Senate bill S.3804, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is up for markup by the Senate Judiciary Committee and “could pass out of committee during the ‘lame duck’ session of Congress,” states an analysis by digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The bill aims to eliminate online piracy by targeting websites that engage in copyright infringement either directly or indirectly. It could range anywhere from a site that posts external links to watch free movies online, to a website that allows users to download pirated content directly.
“Rather than just targeting files that actually infringe copyright law, COICA’s ‘nuclear-option’ design has the government blacklisting entire sites out of the domain name system—a reckless scheme that will undermine global Internet infrastructure and censor legitimate online speech,” states the EFF analysis.
There are two main voices on the side that opposes the COICA bill, the strongest being that it is a step toward Internet censorship that the United States should not be taking; the second being that websites that play an indirect role in copyright infringement will become targets.
There is also concern that the bill would give the United States less credibility when addressing Internet freedom with countries where such freedoms are nearly vacant, such as China.
One thing is certain, however, which is that there is a tug-of-war currently taking place over the direction of the Internet, and this bill represents a major crossroad.
There has been heavy controversy surrounding the bill, and even some of the creators of the Internet themselves have come out to give their two cents.
“If enacted, this 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,” states the open letter from 89 individuals, including editor of HTTP protocol standards Jim Gettys, Internet Systems Consortium President Paul Vixie, and the creator of e-mail standards John Vittal.
“Senators, we believe the Internet is too important and too valuable to be endangered in this way, and implore you to put this bill aside,” the letter concludes.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Human Rights Watch, and seven other organizations issued an open letter stating that “we believe that key provisions in the bill will result in serious unintended consequences for freedom of expression and human rights on the Internet, undermining global Internet freedom abroad.”
Online Piracy
The entertainment industry has taken a very different note regarding the COICA bill, as piracy wreaks havoc on the industry.
“It is estimated that the U.S. economy loses 373,375 jobs annually due to piracy,” states a Department of Professional Employees 2010 fact sheet.
It adds that in 2005, the music industry lost an estimated $12.5 billion to piracy, and the motion picture industry is estimated to lose $20.5 billion annually.
A Sept. 29 letter issued by four key organizations, including the Directors Guild of America, represents more than 300,000 “creators, film talent, and craftspeople who create a multitude of diverse films, television programs, and sound recordings that are sought after by consumers around the world.”
It states that the websites the bill will affect “look legitimate, but make no mistake—these sites are illegal and they are trafficking in illegally-obtained content, with only one goal in mind: making money.”
It adds, “The opposition to this legislation will do all they can to confuse this reality. ... They will turn a blind eye to the looting of one of the strongest American industries by profiteers who contribute nothing to our economy or our culture.”
Currently, nearly any movie can be watched in length on a handful of websites, including Megavideo.com and Statevu.com. Typically, such websites do have anti-piracy standards—and regularly remove videos that violate these standards—yet aren’t able to keep up with user uploads.
Several websites were pulled from the Web a few months back. Although the websites didn’t carry any illegal videos themselves, they specialized in posting links to external websites where users could watch nearly any film. There are many similar sites still online, and many others have emerged since the removal.
The new bill would allow for more sweeping efforts such as this to take place, and with more ease.
There is also a community of users who download videos, games, and other content through P2P file sharing networks. There was also a crackdown on these users not long back by the U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) that hit more than 14,000 random users who illegally downloaded films including “Far Cry” and “The Hurt Locker.”
The USCG threatened them with “a judgment of up to $150,000 per downloaded movie,” according to the EFF, but gave them an option to “settle quickly for $1,500-$2,500 per person.”
Among the more well-known piracy cases are the pre-release of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, which was released before it even hit theaters. Even the first portion of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1” can already be found online.
