[x-pubpol] US: SOPA on the ropes? Bipartisan alternative to 'Net censorship emerges

[Joly MacFie]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/sopa-on-the-ropes-bipartisan-alternative-to-net-censorship-emerges.ars

   "Here's the plan, according to a draft seen by Ars Technica: online
    piracy from overseas sites will be taken away from the Attorney
    General and moved out of the courts. Instead, power will be vested in
    the International Trade Commission, which already handles IP disputes
    relating to imports (the ITC is heavily involved in the recent patent
    wars around smartphones, for instance).

    The government won't bring cases, either; rightsholders can petition
    the ITC for a "cease and desist" order, but only when the site in
    question is foreign and is "primarily" and "willfully" violating US
    law. Sites would be notified and would have a right to be heard before
    decisions are made in most cases, and rulings could be appealed to a
    US court if desired by either party. ("Urgent" requests could get
    preliminary and temporary letters based on a one-sided hearing, but
    the process also envisions "sanctions" for any company that tries to
    abuse the ITC process.)

    Sites which are truly bent on counterfeiting and piracy are unlikely
    to pay much attention to a US-based cease and desist order, of course,
    so the new plan envisions two remedies. If such an order is issued,
    Internet advertising firms and financial providers would have to stop
    offering credit card payments and ads to the site in question. Website
    blocking by ISPs and DNS providers is not part of the plan, nor would
    search engines or others be required to remove links to such content."

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