Hollywood receives even more help from Capitol Hill

[admin]

The US Senate is introducing a bill, titled the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", which the MPAA says will help protect "one of our nation's most important industries".

While the spirit of bi-partisanship is pretty much dead in Washington for most matters vital for the country, at least on the issue of online piracy, for which both parties have been the target of intense lobbying actions, there is some unity. The bill was introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and senior Republican member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

The bill plans to give the Justice Department even more power in pursuing websites suspected of providing copyright content without permission. These powers even include the ability to block credit card payments and advertising on these allegedly illegal websites

More:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/09/hollywood-rallies-behind-senate-bill-to-combat-online-piracy.html

[admin]

Just wanted to add that the MPAA's strategy is to make copyright infringement a criminal offence, rather than just a civil one, as it would mean the government and law enforcement would be in charge of dealing with it, as opposed to themselves. It's all about the $$$

[admin]

87 pioneers of the Internet and prominent engineers have written an open letter urging Senators not to support the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", saying that the bill amounts to censorship and will at the very least cause serious harm to the domain name system that the Internet relies on if domains can be blocked by the government.

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

[admin]

The EFF has had a minor victory, as the Senate Judiciary Committee has decided to delay consideration for the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/secu/article.php/3906391/EFF-Heralds-Victory-After-Senate-Shelves-IP-Bill.htm

[doctorhardware]

The government does not enforce the laws that are on the books now. So why pass more laws, when the government will not enforce the immigration laws now. But that industry has very deep pockets. Money talks and BS walks. These copyright laws will be enforced.

[admin]

The EFF has had a minor victory, as the Senate Judiciary Committee has decided to delay consideration for the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/sec...es-IP-Bill.htm

The reprieve was only temporary, as the committee has now approved the bill via a 19-0 vote.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...d=CNG.8402Nero Serial Removed.191

[admin]

MPAA's boss tries to explain why Internet censorship is good for America with an open letter, and Techdirt debunks the letter paragraph by paragraph:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101118/04100311920/mpaa-boss-defends-censorships-with-blatantly-false-claims.shtml

The MPAA is a danger to democracy!

[doctorhardware]

The only question will the government wake up to the lies that the MPAA is telling. It is very obvious that the government officials are getting nicely paid by MPAA. So this law will be a done deal and will be strictly enforced. And the laws that on the books like immigration will fall by the wayside.

[admin]

Well, there's at least one senator that has some common sense, it seems. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has put a hold on the bill, meaning it can't be introduced until the next time Congress convenes, which won't be this year. Earlier, he explained why he opposed the bill:

Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile.

http://www.geekosystem.com/ron-wyden-internet-censorship-bill/