Senate hold kills Protect IP act!

[thewayne]

The act would have given the governmentMPAA/RIAA power to order American ISPs to block DNS resolution of sites that are infringing content, mainly torrent trackers and download sites. Currently the government has the power to order the Department of Homeland Security to seize the domain names of sites that offend the governmentMPAA/RIAA, which is a tremendously effective tactic as it only works against specific domain types that the US controls, and no one would think of re-registering their domain under a foreign country that is not the US. Not to mention the impossibility of using Firefox add-ins that automatically reroute DNS resolution to alternates.

Definitely a Homeland Security issue. Only terrorists download copyrighted content.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) placed a hold on the Protect IP Act that will keep it from landing on the Senate floor.

“The internet represents the shipping lane of the 21st century,” Wyden said in a statement. “It is increasingly in America’s economic interest to ensure that the internet is a viable means for American innovation, commerce, and the advancement of our ideals that empower people all around the world. By ceding control of the internet to corporations through a private right of action, and to government agencies that do not sufficiently understand and value the internet, PIPA represents a threat to our economic future and to our international objectives,” he said.

This is the whole problem that the MPAA/RIAA have: they're making very little effort to adjust to the internet and new technology. They want to maintain an absolute lockdown on their old business models.

Well, as Dylan said, the times they are a' changin'. If I lived in Oregon, Wyden would definitely get my vote.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/blacklisting-law-advances/

Comments

[silveradept]

Wyden certainly gets props for putting ice on that bill. Although, considering how much I hate Senatorial holds when they go against what I'd like to see done, if there were some other way to get that bill cast down in flames, that would be nice.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I would definitely prefer to see it go down in flames, but a hold is better than nothing. I think the ??AA has too much hold over Congress for the bill to be thoroughly rejected, so this is perhaps the best we could hope for.

Myself, I'd be happy if anonymous holds were eliminated. I think Congresscritters should stand behind what they do publicly.

[silveradept]

I'll give a hearty amen to Congresscritters having to stand behind their actions. Would hopefully cut down on the stupidity.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Lawmakers should be accountable to the public for what they decide and vote on, when I look at people like Bachman I don't think stupidity is a big liability in that organization.

[silveradept]

Well, yes, when we really think about it, things skew toward malice, not ignorance, but that's, y'know, pessimism.