Today, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the “Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act” (FADPA) which would allow rightsholders to secure “blocking orders” against foreign websites accused of copyright infringement. Public Knowledge opposes this bill and any site-blocking bill that turns broadband providers into copyright police at Americans’ expense.
The following can be attributed to Meredith Rose, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“Rather than attacking the problem at its source – bringing the people running overseas piracy websites to court – Congress and its allies in the entertainment industry has decided to build out a sweeping infrastructure for censorship. Site-blocking orders force any service provider, from residential broadband providers to global DNS resolvers, to disrupt traffic from targeted websites accused of copyright infringement. More importantly, applying blocking orders to global DNS resolvers results in global blocks. This means that one court can cut off access to a website globally, based on one individual’s filing and an expedited procedure. Blocking orders are incredibly powerful weapons, ripe for abuse, and we’ve seen the messy consequences of them being implemented in other countries.
“The entertainment industry already has unprecedented power to control Americans’ access to the internet; they have the legal authority to force internet service providers to disconnect subscribers based on mere accusations of copyright infringement. The RIAA can pull the plug on any American’s internet access, at any time, without ever setting foot inside a courtroom. And if broadband providers push back, they can look forward to a $2.6 billion lawsuit, courtesy of the recording industry. That kind of power has absolutely no place in an America where the federal government is spending over $40 billion to connect more Americans – while the entertainment industry is fighting to let fewer people online, and to police what they can see when they do log on.
“Infrastructure and utility providers are not the police force for the entertainment industry. Stop trying to turn ISPs and DNS resolvers into copyright cops.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.