S.3804 - Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act

A bill to combat online infringement, and for other purposes. view all titles (3)

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All Bill Titles

  • Short: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act as introduced.
  • Official: A bill to combat online infringement, and for other purposes. as introduced.
  • Short: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act as reported to senate.

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  • Today: 33
  • Past Seven Days: 208
  • All-Time: 45,757
 
Introduced
 
Senate
Passes
 
House
Passes
 
President
Signs
 

 
09/19/10
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Official Bill Text Comment on about 30 Pages

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OpenCongress Summary

This bill would give the Department of Justice new power to shut down entire internet domains if they deem copyright infringement to be "central to the activity of the Internet site or sites accessed through a specific domain name." It would also require the DoJ to maintain a public list of sites they have determined are "dedicated to infringing activities," but for which they have not taken action against yet. Net neutrality and free speech advocates fear that the ambiguous wording of the bill could lead it to being used against sites like Rapidshare and YouTube that allow users to control content, and blogs that use excerpts from media articles under fair use.
OpenCongress bill summaries are written by OpenCongress editors and are entirely independent of Congress and the federal government. For the summary provided by Congress itself, via the Congressional Research Service, see the "Official Summary" below.

Official Summary

11/18/2010--Reported to Senate amended. Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the federal criminal code to authorize the Attorney General (AG) to commence an in rem action against a domain name used by an Internet site that is "dedicated to infringing ac
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Official Summary

11/18/2010--Reported to Senate amended. Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act -

(Sec. 2)

Amends the federal criminal code to authorize the Attorney General (AG) to commence an in rem action against a domain name used by an Internet site that is "dedicated to infringing activities," even where such a domain name is not located in the United States. Defines an Internet site that is "dedicated to infringing activities" as a site that is:
(1) subject to civil forfeiture;
(2) designed primarily to offer goods or services in violation of federal copyright law; or
(3) selling or promoting counterfeit goods or services.Authorizes a court, upon application of the AG, to issue a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or injunction against the domain name or names used by such a site.Directs any actions against domestic domains to be in the judicial district where the domain name registrar or registry is located or, if such a domain is located or doing business in more than one judicial district, in the judicial district of its principal place of business. Allows any actions against nondomestic domains to be brought in the District of Columbia if:
(1) such a domain is used within the United States to access an infringing site;
(2) the site directs business to U.S. residents; and
(3) the site harms U.S. intellectual property rights holders. Requires a court determining whether a site directs business to U.S. residents to consider factors including:
(1) whether goods or services are being provided to U.S. users;
(2) intent;
(3) prevention measures; and
(4) whether any prices for such goods and services are indicated in U.S. currency.Requires an Internet service provider, financial transaction provider, or Internet advertising service that is served with a court order in connection with an action against a nondomestic domain to take technically feasible or other specified reasonable measures to prevent such infringing activities from continuing. Grants immunity to:
(1) served parties acting pursuant to a court order; and
(2) certain registries, providers, and services voluntarily performing actions described in this Act. Allows the AG to bring an action for injunctive relief against any served party that knowingly and willfully fails to comply with such court order.Directs the AG to inform the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) and other law enforcement agencies of court orders directed to specific domain names associated with infringing sites. Requires the IPEC and authorizes certain other entities to post such domain names on a publicly available site.

(Sec. 3)

Requires the AG to:
(1) publish procedures developed with relevant law enforcement agencies to receive information from the public about infringing activities;
(2) provide specified guidance to intellectual property rights holders regarding investigations; and
(3) establish standards, provide resources, and develop a deconfliction process with other law enforcement agencies for case management and enforcement coordination purposes.

(Sec. 4)

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to study and report to Congress on the impact of this Act on the use of Domain Name System Security Extensions.

...Read the Rest

Organizations Supporting S.3804

  • US Chamber of Commerce
  • Screen Actors Guild
  • Viacom
  • Motion Picture Association of America
  • International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States
  • Property Rights Alliance
  • ...and 19 more. See all.

Organizations Opposing S.3804

  • Electronic Frontier Foundation
  • Distributed Computing Industry Association
  • Center for Democracy & Technology
See the money trail behind this bill for more info on how campaign contributions may be influencing senators' and representatives' votes.



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