Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act

Sops

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced just one week ago, but it's greased and ready to move, with a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday. If people don't speak out, US citizens could soon find themselves joining Iranians and Chinese in being blocked from accessing broad chunks of the public Internet.

COICA creates two blacklists of Internet domain names. Courts could add sites to the first list; the Attorney General would have control over the second. Internet service providers and others (everyone from Comcast to PayPal to Google AdSense) would be required to block any domains on the first list. They would also receive immunity (and presumably the good favor of the government) if they block domains on the second list.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/stop-the-internet-blackli_b_739836.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/...i_b_739836.html</a>

Why do we let Senators vote on things again?

X_Stickman

Anti-piracy lobby groups have become more and more active and powerful recently, even outside the US (check France; Sarkozy needs to get their ###### out of his mouth, seriously).

I'm also pretty sure that wikileaks has sped this along by making it an actual government issue rather than just a lobbying issue. They really don't like wikileaks.

juice

The internets... there isn't any place more free and wonderful. Naturally, this is a threat to existing power structures. The more people share and make open-source, it becomes doubly dangerous... if people aren't working for $$$, you can't control them...