Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Stop the #COICA internet #censorship bill #tcot #tlot #s3804

I first learned of COICA a few days ago from the article below:

Censorship of the Internet Takes
Center Stage in "Online
Infringement" Bill:
Legislative Analysis by Richard Esguerra 9-21-10

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/censorship-internet-takes-center-stage-o...


"Senator Patrick Leahy yesterday introduced the "Combating Online Infringement and
Counterfeits Act" (COICA). This flawed bill would allow the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to break the Internet one domain at a
time — by requiring domain registrars/registries,
ISPs, DNS providers, and others to block Internet users from reaching certain websites.
The bill would also create two Internet blacklists.
The first is a list of all the websites hit with a censorship court order from the Attorney General. The second, more worrying, blacklist is a
list of domain names that the Department of Justice determines — without judicial review —
are "dedicated to infringing activities." The bill only requires blocking for domains in the first list,
but strongly suggests that domains on the second list should be blocked as well by providing
legal immunity for Internet intermediaries and DNS operators who decide to block domains on
the second blacklist as well. (It's easy to predict that there will be tremendous pressure for
Internet intermediaries of all stripes to block these "deemed infringing" sites on the second
blacklist.)"....


.."This is a censorship bill that runs
roughshod over freedom of speech on the Internet. Free speech is vitally important to democracy, which is why the government is
restricted from suppressing speech except in very specific,narrowly-tailored situations. But this bill
is the polar opposite of narrow — not only in the broad way that it tries to define a site "dedicated
to infringing activities," but also in the solution that it tries to impose — a block on a whole domain, and not just the infringing part of the
site.
We note that the DMCA already gives copyright owners legal tools to remove infringing material
piece-by-piece,and to obtain injunctions requiring ISPs to block certain offshore infringing websites. The misuse of the existing DMCA
provisions have had a tremendously damaging impact on fair use and free expression. By
comparison, COICA streamlines and vastly expands this; it would allow the AG to shoot
down a whole domain including all the blog posts, images, backups, and files underneath it.
In other words, it's not just possible but probable that a great deal of legitimate, protected speech
will be taken down in the name of copyright enforcement."...

..."The bill's imbalances threaten to
complicate existing laws and policies. The bill includes poorly drafted definitions that
threaten fair use online, endanger innovative backup services, and raises questions about how
these new obligations on Internet intermediaries are intended to fit with existing US secondary
liability rules and the DMCA copyright safe harbor regime. Moreover, it seems easy to get on
the blacklist — the bill sets up a seemingly streamlined procedure for adding domains,(including a McCarthy-like procedure of public
snitching) — but in contrast, it seems difficult to,get off the list, with a cumbersome process to
have a blacklisted domain removed"...

Additional links:

An Open Letter From Internet Engineers to the Senate Judiciary Committee | Electronic Frontier Foundation

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/open-letter

Government Puts The Hurt On The Internet - Security Blog - InformationWeek http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/09/government_puts.html;jsessionid=VEEY5D5OTDNU5QE1GHRSKH4ATMY32JVN?nomobile=1


U.S. Senators Continue War On Internet with “Online Infringement” Bill « IP Brief

http://www.ipbrief.net/2010/09/26/u-s-senators-continue-war-on-internet-with-...


US Senators Propose Bill To Censor Any Sites The Justice Depatement Declares 'Pirate' Sites, Worldwide | Techdirt

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100920/12460811083/us-senators-propose-bil...

Us bill favours the copyright cartels - The Inquirer

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1734319/us-favours-copyright-cartels Groups Urge Hearing On Online IP Bill - Tech Daily Dose - Tech Daily Dose

http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2010/09/groups-urge-hearing-on-onlin...


PCWorld CDT Protests Bill Requiring Registrars to Enforce Copyright

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/206459/cdt_protests_bill_requir...

Senate Needs to Rein in Copyright Bill | Center for Democracy & Technology

http://www.cdt.org/blogs/andrew-mcdiarmid/senate-needs-rein-copyright-bill


Tim Berners-Lee Comes Out Against COICA Censorship Bill; Shouldn't You? | Techdirt

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100927/10290611182/tim-berners-lee-comes-o...


The bill could come up to the Judiciary Committee as early as Thursday.I strongly urge you to contact the members of the Judiciary Committee & urge them to vote no.Most of the members of the Judiciary Committee,(& two Senators who are not on the Committee:Bayh & Alexander),are also co-sponsors.
The Committee members who are not co-sponsors are:Kyl,Cornyn & Sessions,(all Republicans),& Feingold,Specter,Whitehouse,Kaufman & Franken,(all Democrats).
Of the bills co-sponsors four are Republicans:Alexander,(not on the Committee),as well as Coburn,Graham,Grassley & Hatch.The bills sponsor,(Leahy),& 7 of it's co-sponsors:Bayh,(not on the Committee),plus Cardin,Durbin,Feinstein,Klobuchar,Kohl & Schumer,are Democrats.
I have included links to their contact pages on their websites as well as their D.C. office phone numbers.


Senator Lamar Alexander:

http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=OfficeLocations Washington D.C. Office:
Phone: 202-224-4944

Senator Evan Bayh
http://bayh.senate.gov/contact/ Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-5623


Senator Benjamin L. Cardin:
http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/ Washington D.C. Office Phone:202-224-4524

Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.:
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/?p=OfficeLocations Washington D.C. Office
Phone:202-224-5754
Senator John Cornyn
http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=OfficeLocations Washington DC Office Phone:202-224-2934
Senator Richard J. Durbin
http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm Washington D.C. Office Phone:202-224-2152


Senator Russ Feingold:
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact.html Washington D.C.
Phone:202-224-5323

Senator Dianne Feinstein:
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.

Washington DC Office: Phone: (202) 224-384

Senator Al Franken:
http://franken.senate.gov/?p=offices Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-5641


Senator Lindsey Graham:
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.OfficeLocations Washington D.C. Office:
Phone:202-224-5972

Sen.Charles Grassley: http://grassley.senate.gov/iowa/Washington-DC-office.cfm Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-3744 Senator Orrin Hatch:
http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Home

Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-525
Senator Ted Kaufman:
http://kaufman.senate.gov/services/contact/ Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-5042

Senator Amy Klobuchar:
:http://klobuchar.senate.gov/c ontactamy.cfm Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-3244


Senator Herb kohl: http://kohl.senate.gov/ Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-5653

Senator Jon Kyl:
http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm Washington D.C. Office: Phone: (202) 224-452

Senator Patrick Leahy: http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/ Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-4242


Senator Charles E. Schumer:
http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm Washington D.C. Office: Phone:212-486-4430

Senator Jeff Sessions:
http://sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ConstituentServices.Of... Washington D.C. Office: Phone:(202) 224-4124

Senator Arlen Specter:
http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.OfficeLocations Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-4254


Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: http://whitehouse.senate.gov/contact/ Washington D.C. Office: Phone:202-224-2921

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