📰 New article from TorrentFreak
Rep. Issa Files Competing U.S. Pirate Site Blocking Bill
https://torrentfreak.com/rep-issa-files-competing-u-s-pirate-site-blocking-bill/
Remember the SOPA bill of 2012? The one that caused a massive internet meltdown? Well, the ghost of copyright enforcement past is officially back in the building.
Rep. Darrell Issa has officially introduced a new bill aimed at blocking foreign pirate sites at the ISP level. While the official text is currently playing hard to get (it hasn’t been released to the public yet), we can take a pretty good guess at what’s inside based on Issa’s previous drafts.
Essentially, the bill would allow copyright holders to get court orders that force internet providers to block access to specific foreign websites. It’s a move that has already sparked a bit of a “Battle of the Bills” on Capitol Hill, as Issa’s proposal is competing with other site-blocking efforts currently being debated.
The pushback is already starting, too. Critics, including the group Public Knowledge, are sounding the alarm that this turns broadband providers into “copyright police.” The big fear? “Overblocking”—where a court order meant for a pirate site accidentally knocks out a legitimate small business, a nonprofit, or even a telehealth service.
Whether this becomes the law of the land or another legislative casualty remains to be seen, but the fight for the “open web” is heating up again.