Senate Panel Approves Website Shut-Down Bill

itwbennett writes "The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted 19-0 in favor of a bill that would allow the Department of Justice to seek court orders to shut down websites offering materials believed to infringe copyright. 'Rogue websites are essentially digital stores selling illegal and sometimes dangerous products,' Senator Patrick Leahy, the main sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. 'If they existed in the physical world, the store would be shuttered immediately and the proprietors would be arrested. We cannot excuse the behavior because it happens online and the owners operate overseas. The Internet needs to be free — not lawless.' However, the internet will likely remain 'lawless' for a while longer, as there are only a few working days left in the congressional session and the bill is unlikely to pass through the House of Representatives in that short amount of time."

Comments

But the Internet isn't lawless!

[K. S. Kyosuke]

I, for one, welcome all my proud RFC-abiding fellow netizens.

"If they existed in the physical world [...]"

[the bluebrain]

Couldn't they at least have come up with a decent car metaphor, if they're going to mistake the map for the terrain anyway?

Re:19-0?

[mistiry]

Ok..."A court order ALONE is not due process."

Fucking /.

Re:Open Source Democracy

[davester666]

Hah.

I can make a real difference. I joined the Illuminati!