NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] SOPA on the ropes? Bipartisan alternative to 'Net censorship emerges
SOPA on the ropes? Bipartisan alternative to 'Net censorship emerges
http://j.mp/spJzXZ (ars technical)
"Here's the plan, according to a draft seen by Ars Technica: online
piracy from overseas sites will be taken away from the Attorney
General and moved out of the courts. Instead, power will be vested in
the International Trade Commission, which already handles IP disputes
relating to imports (the ITC is heavily involved in the recent patent
wars around smartphones, for instance).
The government won't bring cases, either; rightsholders can petition
the ITC for a "cease and desist" order, but only when the site in
question is foreign and is "primarily" and "willfully" violating US
law. Sites would be notified and would have a right to be heard before
decisions are made in most cases, and rulings could be appealed to a
US court if desired by either party. ("Urgent" requests could get
preliminary and temporary letters based on a one-sided hearing, but
the process also envisions "sanctions" for any company that tries to
abuse the ITC process.)
Sites which are truly bent on counterfeiting and piracy are unlikely
to pay much attention to a US-based cease and desist order, of course,
so the new plan envisions two remedies. If such an order is issued,
Internet advertising firms and financial providers would have to stop
offering credit card payments and ads to the site in question. Website
blocking by ISPs and DNS providers is not part of the plan, nor would
search engines or others be required to remove links to such content."
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com