

Stop the Internet Blacklist - rtrunck
http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/?source=tw

======
agraddy
Here's a link to the full text of the bill:
<http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3804>

I'm surprised this submission doesn't have more upvotes. It seems like I
constantly see Net Neutrality being debated all over the tech community but
this bill seems much more insidious than any of the possible evils that Net
Neutrality supporters suggest.

From my understanding, a simple decision by a judge can knock an entire
website offline. The criteria to be blocked is that the sole purpose of the
website is to infringe on copyright. If the domain is registered in the US,
then the domain registrar is required to remove access to the domain. If the
domain is registered outside of the US, then ISPs and other businesses,
including financial services and ad services are required to block/prevent the
website from operating (I'm thinking this will greatly affect PayPal and
Google Adsense).

In my opinion, this bill would set a dangerous precedent for the US government
to be able to block any website. I could see cases where large entertainment
companies would bring lawsuits against small web startups in places where the
courts would favorably lean in their direction (think patent cases in East
Texas).

This hits personally because I run a website that helps independent artists
sell their music online. I can't really see any possibility of us being
dragged into court on copyright infringement claims, but I do know we have to
deal with scammers on the site frequently. It's disturbing that if this bill
is passed a dispute over copyright infringement has the possibility of
shutting down the entire site (which would have the ironic side effect of
harming a lot of independent artists who then would have no way of contacting
us online to figure out how to get paid).

~~~
frossie
_I'm surprised this submission doesn't have more upvotes._

Possibly because we went through it yesterday, as part of EFF's campaign:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1737715>

~~~
agraddy
Ahh...thanks, that would explain it. I didn't make it on Hacker News
yesterday. This was the first time I was hearing about it.

------
brandon
I decided to read S. 3804 to understand the technical implications therein,
and I am not a lawyer, but here was my basic understanding:

If a website's primary purpose is copyright infringement or counterfeiting,
and if your domain was registered domestically, then the Attorney General can
take it away. If your domain name was registered non-domestically, the
following will happen:

\- Domestic ISPs will be required to DNS blacklist your domain name.

\- Domestic payment processing and advertising companies will be forbidden
from doing business with you.

Again, IANAL, so if someone else has a more insightful reading please let me
know. I couldn't find a lay explanation anywhere.

~~~
gasull
Copyright infringement has nothing to do with counterfeiting. It seems to me
that politicians are bundling them together in their newspeak, like in the
infamous Anti-"Counterfeiting" Trade Agreement (ACTA
[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Anti-
Counterf...](https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Anti-
Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement)), to make anti-piracy more palatable to the
public.

Yes, I know it sounds conspiracy-theorish, but remember they have been
negotiating the ACTA with all the secrecy.

~~~
metageek
>Copyright infringement has nothing to do with counterfeiting.

That's not really true. Counterfeit goods often involve copyright violations.

The bit that raises the conspiracy hackles is that, if you say
"counterfeiting", you're conflating counterfeit goods and counterfeit money.

~~~
gasull
_Counterfeit goods often involve copyright violations._

OK, but that's just tangential.

------
dustyreagan
Thankfully, it appears that this bill has been delayed until after midterm
elections. Hopefully that's enough time to talk some sense into our
representatives.

[http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/victory-internet-
censor...](http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/victory-internet-censorship-
bill-delayed)

------
bhiggins
I called one of my senators, Patty Murray, since she's up for reelection. I
also called her challenger, Dino Rossi. I talked with staffers from both.
Sadly, neither indicated that they had taken any position on S. 3804.

~~~
jdc
Clearly you have no choice but to run for office.

