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Monday, March 14, 2011

The Internet blacklist (COICA) is back: Take action before Thursday — Free Software Foundation — working together for free software

November 18th, 2010

UPDATE: The Case Against COICA

Legislative Analysis by Peter Eckersley

UPDATE: EFF is deeply disappointed to report that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the COICA Internet censorship bill this morning, despite bipartisan opposition, and countless experts pointing out how it would be ineffective, unconstitutional, bad for innovation and the tech economy, and would break the Internet.

Notably, Senator Feinstein and Senator Coburn commented on the need for more work on elements of the bill — an important consideration as negotiations shift to the Senate at large. The bill is unlikely to come up again until next session, and in the meantime, we look forward to educating Congress about the dangers in COICA, and joining others to oppose this or any other infringement "solution" that threatens lawful speech online.

US Government seized 82 web site domains -- a preview of the Internet blacklist?

Posted by John Sullivan at December 02, 2010 13:40 | Permalink

Please add your name to the petition against COICA.

COICA, the Internet Blacklist bill, passed out of Senate committee on November 18th. It's now facing some stiff opposition in the broader Senate, but we need to let that opposition know we support them -- please add your name if you haven't already, and write directly to your own senators.

Sadly, the US government apparently doesn't want to wait for the bill to pass. They just seized 82 domains in a misguided attempt to censor the Internet and support the RIAA and MPAA War on Sharing. You can read EFF's analysis of the action, and see why it's so important for us to take a stand now.

The Internet blacklist (COICA) is back: Take action before Thursday

Posted by John Sullivan at November 16, 2010 22:40 | Permalink

Now that the elections are over, the bill is back -- and could pass out of committee this Thursday.

UPDATE: The bill passed out of committee, but can still be stopped.

S. 3804, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), would create a blacklist of domain names that the government thinks are involved in copyright infringement, which the Attorney General can then add to with a court order.

Internet service providers and others would be required to block any domains on the list.

This amounts to government censorship of the Internet. COICA is scheduled to be considered by the US Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, so there's no time to waste.

Please add your name to Demand Progress's petition at http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/, and contact your own Senator directly to let him or her know you oppose this bill and the rest of the War on Sharing.

For more information, see Peter Eckersley's analysis for the Electronic Frontier Foundation at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/11/case-against-coica.