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Federal Internet Law & Policy
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Intellectual Property :: Domain Name Blocking Dont be a FOOL; The Law is Not DIY


Taking down websites / domain names on allegation (no judicial finding of) copyright infringing content. See activity of DHS Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Opponents to SOPA and PROTECT-IP argued that it would disrupt DNSSEC.

The White House has opposed legislation which disrupts the Internet architecture, and Congress is indicating that the DNS blocking provisions of the legislation will be removed.

See also WHOIS (director information for domain names)

Stop Online Privacy Act SOPA

Sets forth an additional two-step process (See DMCA Notice and Take Down) that

Requires online service providers, Internet search engines, payment network providers, and Internet advertising services, upon receiving a copy of a court order relating to an AG action, to carry out certain preventative measures including withholding services from an infringing site or preventing users located in the United States from accessing the infringing site. Requires payment network providers and Internet advertising services, upon receiving a copy of such an order relating to a right holder's action, to carry out similar preventative measures.

Provides immunity from liability for service providers, payment network providers, Internet advertising services, advertisers, Internet search engines, domain name registries, or domain name registrars that

Permits such entities to stop or refuse services to certain sites that endanger public health by distributing prescription medication that is adulterated, misbranded, or without a valid prescription.

Expands the offense of criminal copyright infringement to include public performances of: (1) copyrighted work by digital transmission, and (2) work intended for commercial dissemination by making it available on a computer network. Expands the criminal offenses of trafficking in inherently dangerous goods or services to include: (1) counterfeit drugs; and (2) goods or services falsely identified as meeting military standards or intended for use in a national security, law enforcement, or critical infrastructure application.

Increases the penalties for: (1) specified trade secret offenses intended to benefit a foreign government, instrumentality, or agent; and (2) various other intellectual property offenses as amended by this Act.

Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review, and if appropriate, amend related Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Requires the Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce to appoint at least one intellectual property attache to be assigned to the U.S. embassy or diplomatic mission in a country in each geographic region covered by a Department of State regional bureau.

News

Protect IP

DNS Filtering for foreign websites hosting allegedly (no judicial finding of) copyright infringing content

Proponents

  • MPAA
  • George Ou
  • Criticism

  • Wyden, Ron. "Overreaching Legislation Still Poses a Significant Threat to Internet Commerce, Innovation and Free Speech" . Sovreign . Retrieved 28 May 2011
  • Law Professors Letter arguing that Protect-IP is unconstitutional (prior constraint)
  • PROTECT IP Technical Whitepaper Final Steve Crocker, David Dagon, Dan Kaminsky, Danny McPherson, Paul Vixie (May 2011)
  • The Undersigned (2011), Public Interest Letter to Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Opposition to S. 968, PROTECT IP Act of 2011 , pp. 1-2 , retrieved 2011-05-30
  • Halliday, Josh (18 May 2011). "Google boss: anti-piracy laws would be disaster for free speech" . The Guardian . Retrieved 24 May 2011 .
  • Siy, Sherwin. "COICA v. 2.0: the PROTECT IP Act" . Policy Blog . Public Knowledge . Retrieved 24 May 2011 .
  • Links

  • "Powell Statement Regarding Introduction of the PROTECT IP Act of 2011" . NCTA
  • COICA

    Hearings

    Bill Introduced: H.R.1689 To provide support to combat illegal downloading on college and university campuses., Open Congress 6/15/2007

    Government Enforcement (ICE DHS)

    Derived From: 2011 US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Joint Strategic Plan, One Year Anniversary, June 2011

    "ICE and DOJ Launched Innovative Operations to Seize Rogue Websites

    "Last June, ICE and the IPR Center, in coordination with DOJ, launched an ongoing law enforcement operation – Operation in Our Sites – to seize domain names of websites offering counterfeit products or pirated content, both of which are illegal actions which could be used to finance other criminal behavior in addition to posing certain safety risks. To date, there have been five operations targeting 125 websites.

    "Consumer Education Efforts on IPR Infringement Spread to the Internet

    "As a result of DOJ and ICE’s trailblazing work against rogue websites, domain names seized pursuant to court order display a banner announcing the seizure of the site by the Government and an explanation of the federal crime and punishment for copyright theft and distribution or trademark violations. Since the initial seizures in June 2010, there have been more than 50 million hits to the banner notifying viewers a Federal court order has been issued for the domain name and educating them that willful copyright infringement is a Federal crime. After the seized domain names are forfeited to the U.S. Government, a new banner is placed on the sites notifying the public that the sites have been forfeited. Also, the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies discussed above has consumer education as one of its four major principles. And DOJ is funding public awareness campaigns on the risks to the public of purchasing counterfeit goods. 

    "International Efforts Supported Online IPR Enforcement

    "In May, the Group of Eight (G8) released a final declaration, in which they jointly announced their commitment to protect intellectual property rights on the Internet and to take “effective action against violations of intellectual property rights in the digital arena, including action that addresses present and future infringements.”

    "In June, in association with Operation In Our Sites, several U.S. law enforcement agencies worked cooperatively with Dutch law enforcement authorities to seize an image a server in the Netherlands being used to facilitate the unauthorized reproduction and distribution of copyrighted material. That same month, the FBI worked with Latvian authorities to arrest and to extradite a trafficker of counterfeit gaming machines, and in August, the trafficker and his partner were each sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $151,800 in restitution.

    "In October 2010, Operation Pangea III targeted the online sale of counterfeit and illegal medicines across 45 countries and resulted in world-wide arrests and seizures of thousands of potentially harmful medications. During this operation, the U.S. coordinated with the WCO, INTERPOL, and others. 

    Government Releases

    Caselaw

  • Chanel, Inc. v. Does, et al., 11-cv-01508-KJD-PAL (D. Nev.) (Sept. 26, 2011 Order) (Oct. 11, 2011 Order) (Nov. 14, 2011 Order) (affirms seizure of domain names on accusation of sale of counterfeit goods)
  • Venkat Balasubramani, Courts OKs Private Seizure of Domain Names Which Allegedly Sold Counterfeit Goods, Technology & Marketing Law Blog Nov. 28, 2011
  • White House

    News

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