The bill entitled: “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) passed a US Senate panel this morning by a 19-0 vote.
Such organizations such as Electronic Frontier Foundation eBay, Amazon.com, Bloomberg, Google and Wikipedia were against the bill and warned that the bill would give federal law enforcement too much power to police infringing activity.
The measure, approved by the Senate panel in a 19-0 vote,
The bill was promoted to protect movies, music and fake goods from being sold on the internet.
The law would give U.S. agencies and officials new powers to go after domains that sell counterfeit goods and pirated music, movies and books has the backing of companies including Disney, Nike, Merck) and Time Warner and groups such as the Screen Actors Guild, the Motion Picture Association of America.
The bill allows the Justice Department to seek a court order against the domain name of websites offering illegal music or movie downloads or ones that sell counterfeit goods.
Once the Justice Department has the order, it could shut down the site by requiring the U.S. registrar to suspend the domain name.
If the registry is located outside the United States, the U.S. Attorney General could go after the website by requiring U.S.-based Internet service providers, payment processors and advertising networks to stop doing business with it.
This bill would effectively allow the Justice Deptment to go to the registry if the domain is registered with a non-US registry.
However many fear that domains that simply had links like parked pages to such sites could be sweep into this law and cause such domains to be seized.
The bill would now go to the Senate for a vote but with the Senate on break until after Thanksgiving and other matters such as the Bush tax cuts still to be decided this year, chances for passage this year seem minimal.
See more about the Leahy Bill here:
http://howardneu.com/blog/social/ENTERTAINMENT-INDUSTRY-IS-PUSHING-HARD-FOR-PASSAGE-OF-LEAHY-BILL.php?post_id=90&pgtitle=ENTERTAINMENT%20INDUSTRY%20IS%20PUSHING%20HARD%20FOR%20PASSAGE%20OF%20LEAHY%20BILL&category=social
Howard did write a very good piece on the bill, everyone should check it out
ebay would have to police their entire site and guarantee that every auction is legit ?
impossible.
this blog is highly censored (tailored?) ?
Adam
The bill of course would be aimed to take sites like thepiratebay.org and limewire offline, but as usual is going to be broadly drawn to drag in sites like ebay and possibly parked domains
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Ouch, time to get any domains with any value out of the country. Canada is much safer, imo. Law by law, individual rights and property are being taken away from people. The Patriot Act was the big signal for me of the direction things were headed.
“If the registry is located outside the United States, the U.S. Attorney General could go after the website by requiring U.S.-based Internet service providers, payment processors and advertising networks to stop doing business with it.”
– Translate = You get to keep your domain if it is located on a registrar outside of the US.
Cheers.
Not Surprised
“Ouch, time to get any domains with any value out of the country. Canada is much safer, imo.”
That won’t work under this bill.
The bill specifically allows the department of justice to go to VeriSign or the PIR registry for a .Org or to any registry (not registrar) that is US based to seize the domain.
So it doesn’t matter if the domain is registered in the US or with a US based registrar.
The only solution would be a ccTLD whose registry is not US based
with this law the big companies could be allowed to “kill” all the websites they want
Big Lie
I have been getting upwards of 50 comments a day by a single poster 49 of which I don’t even begin to understand.
The comments to the blog are not at all heavily censored but
Your comment must be on the point of the topic
Your comments must be understandable. If I can’t understand what the hell someone is talking about (that is not disagree with it) but not even be able to comprehend the words then I’m not going to subject other readers to it.
Of course self promotion “like I have this domain for sale” kind of comments are usually removed as well.
99% of non-spam comments stick
Then they came for the Domainers, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Domainer
Parking “self optimization” just became more dangerous than ever, one “ad” of the wrong kind…and there goes your domain.
Domo
Yes very possibly if the bill passes Congress which it has not
Yet
Join the ICA they are fighting it
@MHB.
If there ever was a reason to move the registry out of the US this is it. imo.
Best.
The registry isn’t moving out of the US.
VeriSign has the .com and .net registry contract with a presumptive right of renewal
You are damned if you park your domain.
You are damned if you don’t use your domain.
You are damned if you have links to info. the Gov’t does not like, or TM groups don’t like.
You are damned if host your own domains and one of them crosses the Gov’t watch dogs path, and then they take your domain(s).
And lastly, if you develop, you’d better not cross anyone with some rights, and even if you don’t, if you have some success, you had better watch out for TM or patent groups that file a TM after you already have a site up and running, or wait for your product to become a smashing success and then take a cut of the action, and then there are those that will just try to sue you to see if they can run your bank account dry to get you to the bargaining table.
It’s tough out there — watch out.
Any ICA update on this???
“Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) passed a US Senate panel this morning by a 19-0 vote
19-0
Another move towards fascism ….
(Wiki:
Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values)
The neutered online sheep don’t even say Bah,Bah.
Then they came for the ISPs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not an ISP
@ TheBigLieSociety
Then they came for the ISPs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not an ISP
Excellent reverse analogy …
The ISP’S ARE NEXT = Total Control!
THEY DONT WANT just THE DOMAINS ,
THEY WANT YOU! Mr and Mrs ISP
SPEAK UP!
“DUMBO THE ISP”
“The Indian Removal Act, part of an American government policy known as Indian removal, was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.[1]”
“Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee spoke out against the legislation.”
“Crockett’s opposition to Jackson’s policies led to his defeat in the 1834 elections…and was killed at the Battle of the Alamo “
am thinking the US is trying to shot itself, am thinking there could be some other better ways. .Co is going to finally get there desire met. Alertpay canada, alibaba china etc asian registry expect mass transfer of domain out of US.
Then they came for the BLOGs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a BLOGger
…eventually people learn to remain silent and not post here…
counterfeit goods,illegal movies,pirated music,pirated books,all trademarked,and possesing intellectual property that was orginated,manfactured and distributed by its creators.
we are all familiar with the counterfeiting trade costing billions of dollars,black market movies,the closing down of napster.nothing new here.
the billion dollar domain industry now has more scrunity and regulation being thrust upon itself.
therefore domainers will now be required to review,scrunitize, and be accountable for their own portfolios prior to the use of their domains.there can be no infringement,unauthorized use or criminal activity by any legitimate domain owner.
with mainstrean use and acceptace comes responsibility,unwanted regulation, and a squeezing of the profit margins.regulation has its place and is warrented.
as the domain king clearly stated if domainers do not take control of their destiny some else
will take away your rights..
the pays of ppc are falling fast as ppc is geared towards trademarks and domain owners have very little contol over this. this puts domains into jeopardy under this law.domainers need a platform that benefits domainers…
2010 November 18 MHB permalink
Domo
Yes very possibly if the bill passes Congress which it has not
Yet
Join the ICA they are fighting it
*************
In process…
://www.dump.com/2010/11/16/chinese-premier-says-i-believe-freedom-of-speech-is-indispensable-for-any-country-in-interview-interview-then-censored-by-government-in-china-video/
://www.wimp.com/chinesepremier/
@ domain guy
SHUT UP!
Every single post of yours is always NEGATIVE Anti -Domainer …
THE DOMAIN BLOCKING BILL IS OF A FASCIST MENTALITY
like yours, you even have the simple minded audacity in your post
to reference the domain king in your post as if he would support
There’s no need to be paranoid of the government – it really is NOT out to get you!
This is just more of the same from our great leaders, whichever party they belong to. Find a problem, and then do something that will both look impressive and increase the government’s power over the individual. Doesn’t matter if the thing done actually solves the problem found.
And if there’s no problem? Simply invent one.
Domains are especially easy targets because most people are pretty ignorant of them, and simply don’t care.
Unfortunately, other countries don’t provide any real refuge from this, and many are worse. So, the only choice is to fight it. Good luck prying the public away from their favorite reality shows to actually face reality.
@ louise
After the DISGRACEFUL illiterate statement you ….
made over on Howard Nue’s Blog
(Reference: See VERY TOP Posting up above)
You should STILL be hiding under a rock ….
(warning- long, rantish)
As much as I wish I could be the contrarian and point out that the prevailing sentiment in these comments seems a bit hysterical (because really, it’s pretty much a slam-dunk that only grave offenders will be targeted), I just can’t bring myself to take that position.
If you live long enough, you eventually come to understand that any time the government passes legislation under the guise of “giving law enforcement the tools it needs”, that’s basically a synonym for your losing rights. When this sort of thing gets hammered through, it drastically increases the risk of John Q Public being targeted by a bored, numbers-making cubicle cop somewhere out there in Government land, based on hardly much more than a bureaucratic technicality.
The ‘government odium’ formula they use goes a little something like this.
For every 50 cases they make that are good, 1 will be questionable. For every 10 that are questionable, 1 will gravely offend against justice.
The questionable- and outright egregious- cases aren’t sufficient in number to ‘outweigh’ the perceived ‘good’ they’re doing by taking the rights away… unless, of course, you’re the poor guy who gets the shaft.
I recall some time back, during an early foray into pre-law, we had an opportunity to work hands-on with ex offenders. A criminal law professor- whom I thank a great deal for this- insisted that one cannot begin to understand ‘the process’ until they first get away from books and philosophies and work on understanding ‘the people’ involved. As outsiders looking in, we have these preconceptions about felons and criminals and “bad guys” that are sometimes true but usually, not. During the course of this particular practicum, he brought in three individuals who had been convicted of ‘felonies’- two in Federal court, one in state court. We dissected their cases, asked them questions, really got into the underlying facts that don’t make the newspapers. It was shocking, depressing and maddening at the same time. To a man, everyone in that class left with a healthy dose of skepticism about how regulatory agencies and law enforcement agencies operate and the sort of things they get away with.
We go through life with these ideas about how ‘the system’ works – it lets us sleep well at night, believing that it’s there to protect us, always does good and essentially never harms an otherwise honest person- but much like the manufacture of sausage, things change a great deal once you leave the safe realm of ideals and see the process in action.
Laws like this shouldn’t be judged on what they are ‘intended to do’. They should be judged by the pretexts upon which they can be employed- by an overreaching government- to prosecute people, away from the laws original intent. In this particular case, its very scary.
This is being advanced on the pretext of “protecting trademarks and intellectual property” but in practice, it is a fundamental debasement of your rights as a name holder, publisher and content provider. It opens too many doors without bothering to consider whom we’re letting in.
The Indian Removal Act, part of an American government policy…
…
The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South…
…
Most European Americans favored the passage of the Indian Removal Act…
…
“….and resulted in the forced removal of Seminoles, only a small number to remain, and around 3,000 were killed…”
…
In 1823 the Supreme Court handed down a decision (Johnson v. M’Intosh) which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands.
This is one of those laws that requires you take the time to write your Senator and explain why this is bad. I play poker for backers. Back 2 years ago, there was a law making the rounds of Senate that we all thought would not make because of lame duck sessions and we thought the bill was killed. I walk up the next morning and Leahy (Same idiot that wants this law to go through and just so there is no misunderstands, Leahy was paid by Harrahs to make that law) stuffed into into a Homelands Act bill and off it went, making it hard for me to play for my investors online. Then in some states, it became a Felony to play poker online. Hey guys, a little help here.
So contact your Representives and Senators and explain why this is a BAD law. I’m sure you’ll look at campaign funding for him, you’ll see the reason this law is being pushed and again. Leahy will get it dumped into some must have law that needs to get voted on like a extension of unemployed funding bill.
Then they came for the GAMBLERs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a GAMBLER
Domainers will have behave ethically. That is gonna be tough. Today the world is crying for them. Lol. No one cares about Domainers can you smell the coffee. Guess the tm guys are tired of having to go to wipo a thousand times to reclaim infringing typos of their brands. Domainers this time the sky really is falling. Trademark holders don’t love you. The public doesn’t love you and your partners don’t love you. They Google yahoo and bing treat you like a dog feeding you scraps from the table and what do you do..bend over and take it with a smile. The days of wine and roses are over. Well i guess you still have the days of whine. Lol. Get real get real jobs
You people have the power. Senators wouldn’t have shown up at TRAFFIC Miami if you didn’t. The problem isn’t the government. The problem seems to be Google and those supplying advertising links for your parked pages, that they don’t screen them well enough. You could form a force and pressure Google to only allow advertising for legitimate sites, not for trademark keywords for competitors.
If you fear losing a bit of income on your parked pages if you lose trademark advertising for competing companies, then you only have yourself to blame.
@ Landon White, I stand behind what I say here, there, and everywhere. Not that I’m perfect. I WRITE LETTERS. I SEND SNAILMAIL to the government. I wish some of you smarter than me would do the same, but at least I do it, and they get the attention you’re not. Here is a list of some addresses to make it easier for you:
US President Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
U.S. Department of Commerce / NTIA
Herbert C. Hoover Building (HCHB)
U.S. Department of Commerce / NTIA
1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20230
SEC Complaint Center
100 F Street NE
Washington, D.C. 20549-0213
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Franchise Tax Board
Tax Shelter Hotline 395:AW
P.O. Box 1998
Rancho Cordova, CA 95741-1998
We’ll see who gets the attention. The most recent letter I sent – not a minute too soon – on the eve ICANN integrated Registrars and Registries in an informal meeting, I warned that organized crime has infiltrated ICANN, Verisign, and the major Registrars Tucows, eNom, GoDaddy, Network Solutions, and spoke up about Verisign’s BTAPPA again, and called Go Daddy out for hiring William Reed to slap his SS# on the Nevada Corporation Go Daddy, Inc, which is a sham corporation of nominee board members, used in hiding of assets.
Pressure GoDaddy to block trademark advertising. You can do it! 🙂
Then they came for Presidential Candidates, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Presidential Candidate
[Obama will be the ONLY Candidate?]
…other domains will be seized ?
UPDATE
One Senator speaks out against the bill:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/211162/senator_threatens_to_block_online_copyright_bill.html
“Obama will be the ONLY Candidate?”
WOW, Great Idea !!!!!
Think how much time and energy that would save.
Should the U.S. Senate also get rid of Presidential Term Limits ?
That could then be just like ICANN, ARIN and the ISOC
Million dollar politicians FOR LIFE !!!
No elections needed !!!
One Party – One Internet – One World
@ louise
TO LATE!
Your foot is in your mouth …
Reference: these words (Word for Word)
are from the louise post on Howard Neu’s Blog …
(Reference: POST herein VERY TOP ABOVE)
(Quote) government intervention sounds like a good alternative!
I say, go get ’em! (/Unquote)
……. go get em, …. (rolls eyes)
I guess your not really one of the THEM,
after all, ARE YOU!
.
And your photo’s ugly too!
@landonwhite. well landon i am speaking from experience.every one of my posts are based on fact,research and real life.
there is nothing anti domainer about domain guy and i will now educate you on this board in public. 1. domain guy has used domains to establish intellectual property first use in commerce and ripped a trade mark off the principal register. this 500 billion dollar company now has no trademark do to domain guy. half billion dollars.no tm period.
2. domain guy has a green portfolio of domains generic in nature and has forced a 4 billion dollar national company to abandond their trademark do to likilihood of confusion with domain guys generic domain.
3. domain guy holds the domains of billion dollar research facilites that are up and operating have no trademark but domain guy has a disclaimer and a operating blog which is a legal use under the lanham act.
4. as the billion dollar green market starts to evolve with gov intervention regulation and taxation will be implemmented. domain guy has operated 10 yrs without gov regulation.
5. the truth is ugly start getting used to it. accept responsibility for domainers actions, operate within the law it provides structure and guidelines, domains are an emerging industry and will fall in line it is your responsibilty to know the law.
6. schwartz is correct if you do not take control you will loose control. it has taken 10 yrs to legitimize the green industry from green washing. and who stepped up to the plate. the ftc.
to clarify green verification. and the word sustainable was left out of the ftcs actions.
7. your commets are respectable but you are to far to the right study trade mark law like the lanham act you will learn a lot.
lanham act takes precident over any domain so regulation was in place prior to the emergence of the domain industry.
Reference:
@ domainguy, @ louise = Same Person
They alternate to support there anti-domainer spue …
Louise be next … lol
the thing I am compelled to ask everyone here is? Why do you suppose the senator of all the business before him, went out of his way to see to it that this particular legislation was even proposed to begin with?
what was the prime motivation here?
Stewart
Congress is reacting to sites like thepiratebay.org that are located off shore, and allow the downloading of copyrighted material and those sites that sell fake goods like handbags.
So congress at the urging of the music and movie industry, want to be able to shut down these types of sites.
But this law is drafted, as many laws, is over-broad and following the language of the bill it can effect many more sites, than one’s serving up or allowing the download of copyrighted material or those selling fake goods.
Combine that with the quick take down of the domain without notice or hearing to the domain holder and placing the burden on the domain holder to prove his innocence, not to mention the time or expense that such an action would take
add up to a poorly drafted bill.
Good intentions but the bill need to be much narrower in scope.
Domains who park their domains are thrown under the rug. Parking companies place links on sites.
While many owners try hard to avoid link issues, there is still a chance that trademark links will be added on the related searches.
Domain investing involves so many processes. Shutting down sites that are not affiliated with unethical sites may change the scope of the domain industry.
Meant domainers in past post. I guess the iPhone has a mind of its own.
Can attorneys determine what actions are questionable? Will domain investors have an opportunity to determine which actions and uses can jeopardize their domains?
Ethical use can still be penalized with parking links.
FLASH!
Oregon Senator Wyden effectively kills Internet censorship bill
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/oregon-senator-vows-block-internet-censorship-bill/
‘It’s too early to say for sure, but Oregon Senator Ron Wyden could very well go down in the history books as the man who saved the Internet.
A bill that critics say would have given the government power to censor the Internet will not pass this year thanks to the Oregon Democrat, who announced his opposition during a recent committee hearing. Individual Senators can place holds on pending legislation, in this case meaning proponents of the bill will be forced to reintroduce the measure and will not be able to proceed until the next Congress convenes.
Even then, its passage is not certain.
The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) would have permitted a blanket takedown of any domain alleged to be assisting activities that violate copyright law, based upon the judgment of state attorneys general.
“Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile,” Wyden said.’
Then they came for the GAMBLERs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a GAMBLER
Then they came for the GAMERs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a GAMER
.WOW
“After months of hang-ups, the Senate unanimously approved Friday two multibillion-dollar settlements that will rectify long-standing claims against the federal government for discrimination and mismanagement.
Senate approves $4.6B for black farmers, Indians”
.CASINO Top Level Domain part of the deal ?
Then they came for the GAMERs, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a GAMER
.WOW
://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/160-gamer-makes-a-cool-half-million-by-selling-virtual-property
“what just went down on Planet Calypso, where one of Entropia’s wealthier players has sold off his interests in a “resort asteroid” for an eye-popping $635,000.”
LA Times commentary out today against the bill:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-piracy-20101128,0,7950612.story