ISP blocking provision to be removed from SOPA bill
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The main sponsor for US SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) has said that he will remove a provision that is in debate and will require Internet service providers to block subscriber access to such foriegn websites which are accused of infringing copyrights in the US.
Texas Republican representative, Lamar Smith, has announced that he will remove ISP provisioning from SOPA bill so that lawmakers can examine deeply the issues which surround this provision. Smith said:
We will continue to look for ways to ensure that foreign websites cannot sell and distribute illegal content to U.S. consumers.
Sources at Macworld say that:
The ISP provision in SOPA allows the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders requiring service providers to block subscriber access to foreign sites accused by the DOJ of copyright infringement. That provision would be removed, but remaining in the bill would be provisions allowing the DOJ to seek court orders requiring search engines to remove links to sites accused of infringement and requiring online advertising networks and payment processors to stop doing business with the accused sites.
This bill will further allow domain name registrars to block such foreign website IP addresses on US servers. Hence copyright holders will have the power to issue out court orders against payment processors and different ad networks promoting those sites.
If an ISP blocking provision is added, SOPA could face a cyber security issues as users would attempt to by pass such blocks. Speech could eventually lead to blockage as well according to opponents who are opposing the bill. Do you support SOPA or not? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
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