Congress to Censor the Internet

[Marek]

What bill are we talking about?

It's S. 3804, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). It's currently being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

What exactly does it do?

The bill creates two blacklists of Internet domain names. The first can be added to by a court, the second by the Attorney General. Internet service providers (everyone from Comcast to PayPal to Google AdSense) would be required to block any domains on the first list. They would also receive immunity (and presumably the government's gratitude) for blocking domains on the second list.

Please read more about this bill and sign the petition here:

COICA Fact Sheet | Stop the Internet Blacklist! | Demand Progress

The government has no right to determine which websites we may access and which we may not. This is not a partisan issue.

 

[Belk]

Agreed. Petition signed.

 

[DeathMagus]

Done. The US is slowly transforming into a society of criminals. Our laws aren't changing with the zeitgeist.

 

[Protocol11]

And who says bipartisanship is dead.

Isn't this the same thing they do in China? Are they our new role models for liberty?

 

[Pommer]

And who says bipartisanship is dead.

Isn't this the same thing they do in China? Are they our new role models for liberty?

If we have a Tiananmen Square, I nominate you, Prot, to be the guy who stands in front of the tanks.


ON topic:

If it is a matter of making sites harder to find, I don't have a problem with this. (It doesn't shut down sites but limits search engines and others linking to them.)
A fine line, to be sure but no-one's speech is being abridged.

 

[Staccato]

A nice thought but, let's be honest, this bill is as good as passed already.

Ability to increase internet control + useless (but profitable) approach to piracy = martinis for all!

People in other countries could still get to them, but Internet users in the US would be blocked.

Because there's no such thing as proxies, huh? Congress really are morons. This is why old lawyers shouldn't attempt to legislate on modern technology without actual consultation with non-corporate interests.

If it is a matter of making sites harder to find, I don't have a problem with this. (It doesn't shut down sites but limits search engines and others linking to them.)
A fine line, to be sure but no-one's speech is being abridged.

Except they are blocked. Not delisted. Blocked. At least according to the article.

Yes, I forsee no situation in which this power could be abused.

 

[Protocol11]

If we have a Tiananmen Square, I nominate you, Prot, to be the guy who stands in front of the tanks.

I'll be the guy shooting at the tank. Or preferably someone by the tank.

 

[Pommer]

...
Except they are blocked. Not delisted. Blocked. At least according to the article.

If you mean that if a person manually types in http://yourmother.con (only spelt correctly) and this was on both lists...they'd get an error or "site cannot be found" message?

If so, I wouldn't go along with it.

 

[Marek]

If you mean that if a person manually types in http://yourmother.con (only spelt correctly) and this was on both lists...they'd get an error or "site cannot be found" message?

If so, I wouldn't go along with it.

Yes. The site will be unaccessible (unless you're able to get through with a proxy, tor node, etc.). There's also no requirement in the law to inform users why their access is blocked. You could simply get an error page as if the site never existed at all.

 

[Pommer]

Yes. The site will be unaccessible (unless you're able to get through with a proxy, tor node, etc.). There's also no requirement in the law to inform users why their access is blocked. You could simply get an error page as if the site never existed at all.

Well, if that's the case, I'm agin it!

 

[Staccato]

You could simply get an error page as if the site never existed at all.

This is the most likely. They'll probably stick a 401, 403 or 404 on and call it a day. There won't be any explanation as to why.