Internet Blacklist Back In Congress

Adrian Lopez writes "A bill giving the government the power to shut down Web sites that host materials that infringe copyright is making its way quietly through the lame-duck session of Congress, raising the ire of free-speech groups and prompting a group of academics to lobby against the effort. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced in Congress this fall by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). It would grant the federal government the power to block access to any Web domain that is found to host copyrighted material without permission."

Comments

More lists?

[BrookHarty]

That's all we need, is more lists for the government to maintain. They do a bang up job already with no-fly.

Re:Hardly suprising

[MightyMartian]

Once IPv6 is in place, IP addresses will be cheap, illicit DNS server roots will be added to your DNS list, and voila, blocking will be meaningless. Oh sure, the *official* DNS servers will be blocking tpb, and I suppose someone will be trying to block IP addresses, but it will be a game of cat and mouse where the cat is always two steps behind the mouse.

All any of this does is force the pace of innovation in precisely the opposite direction such legislation purports to be attempting to kill.

Lame Duck Congress

[Bryan3000000]

While it's often said that a Lame Duck congress can't get much done, it is the perfect time for them to pass unpopular legislation that powerful lobbies want passed. It's one of the few times congress can get away with it while having very few political repercussions.

Re:Before I even clicks the links in summary...

[cayenne8]

"So then we use an alternate root. Seems simple enough, once again the Internet is flexible enough to route around damage."

So, just wait for them to add an amendment here, or on some other bill...making it illegal for a US citizen to use alternate roots.

While I agree with your sentiment...there is real danger letting them set a precedent of this fashion, and we need to stop this kind of shit right in its current tracks.

I applaud current moves to try to get rid of earmark/pork barrel spending.

Lets also try to convince the congress critters to quit fscking with the internet (something they really don't understand to begin with)...and leave it free.