Amendment Aims To Address Concerns With Online IP Bill
September 29, 2010
| 6:14 PM
The Senate Judiciary Committee has drafted a substitute amendment aimed at addressing some of the concerns raised by technology and public interest groups about legislation targeting online piracy and counterfeiting.
The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would give the Justice Department new authority to file a civil action against a domain name linked to a website trafficking in illegal copyrighted content or counterfeit goods. The court could order a registrar, a firm that sells Internet domain name registrations to the public, to revoke the domain name linked to the site with the infringing content or counterfeit goods.
The bill also would give the Justice Department power to target foreign websites by requiring U.S.-based third parties, such as Internet service providers or payment processors, to stop doing business with these foreign targets.
Among the key changes to the bill the amendment would make include deleting a provision authorizing the Justice Department to publish a list of domain names linked to websites engaged in infringing activities without first seeking a court order. In addition, the amendment clarifies that an ISP would not be required to modify its network or facilities to comply with an order or "take steps with respect to domain name lookups performed by others," according to a summary of the proposed amendment. ISPs and payment processors would be required to act as "expeditiously as reasonable," according to the amendment.
The amendment also would provide advertising networks, ISPs, payment processors, registrars, and registries, the firms that operate the database of top-level domains, with more protection from legal liability for actions they take under the law.
Several public interest and technology industry groups sent a letter this week to Leahy and Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., voicing concerns with several provisions, including that the bill would set a bad precedent that other countries might seek to replicate for more controversial reasons and that it would allow the Justice Department to "to blacklist websites in a manner subject to little process and limited judicial review."
The Computer and Communications & Industry Association, one of the groups that signed the letter voicing concern with the bill, said despite the proposed changes in the amendment, it still remains opposed to the measure as currently crafted.
CCIA and the other groups called on the Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on the measure before moving to a markup. The bill was listed on the Judiciary Committee's agenda for a markup scheduled for Thursday, but that session has since been postponed.
Meanwhile, a group of entertainment industry unions sent a letter to Leahy and Sessions Wednesday voicing strong support for his bill.
"We want to assure you that we stand firmly with you - knowing full well the barrage of misinformation and fear tactics that will be cast against this legislation by those who seek an Internet in which everything is free to be stolen and there are no protections for consumers or creators at all," according to the letter signed by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Directors Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and the Screen Actors Guild.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus