C.O.I.C.O. Blacklist Coming To An Isp Near You

[cup-O-coffee]

Combating online Infringement and Counterfeits Act riles rights groups

Online rights groups prepare for battle

22 Sep 2010 15:15 | by Andrea Petrou | posted in Internet

According to the EFF, the new bill would break the internet one domain at a time by requiring domain registrars/registries, ISPs, DNS providers, and others to block internet users from reaching certain websites that are hosted in the US. The bill would also create two internet blacklists. The first is a list of all the websites hit with a censorship court order from the Attorney General. The second is a blacklist of domain names that the Department of Justice determines — without judicial review — are "dedicated to infringing activities."

The bill only requires blocking for domains in the first list, but strongly suggests that domains on the second list should be blocked as well by providing legal immunity for Internet intermediaries and DNS operators who decide to block domains on the second blacklist as well.

Visitors to blocked sites will see a 404 error message.

If the site is hosted outside the US, the Justice Department would approach the registries controlling the top level dot.com, dot.net and dot.org domains, which are all US based.

"Where the registry or registrar is not located in the United States, the Act would provide the Attorney General the authority to serve the order on other specified third parties at its discretion, including ISPs, payment processors, and online ad network providers," Leahy said.

"These third parties... are critical to the financial viability of the infringing website's business."

Full Story at : http://www.techeye.net/internet/combating-online-infringement-and-counterfeits-act-riles-rights-groups

Anyone heard about this? The entire bill can be reviewed here and here. It would seem that US hegemony in WWW computer domain registries is going to be commandeered by the US government, and the way the existing Internet is run will be revised according to US Government Standards, worldwide.

It looks pretty unfair for a lot of people, worldwide. Thailand could be hit pretty hard, considering all of their websites that that fit the definitions of this Bill. After all, this looks to be another method for the USA to raise the ante on the addicts (Internet Users) of their opiate (.com, .net, .org domains).

This website breaks it down a bit better, and gives an objective overview of how exactly it will affect us; e.g. Youtube could be banned!

Edited October 7, 2010 by cup-O-coffee

[CosmicSurfer]

Ain't gonna Happen!

[trogers]

I suggest the US sealed its nation's network from the outside world. No info gets out and in, thus no infringement possible. And the US govt will not need to step on toes of other countries.

[nikster]

Ain't gonna Happen!

Yeah - better donate to the EFF because frankly they're often the only ones who stand up and fight BS like this.

It seems to be a direct violation of the second amendment so not much chance of this happening - would get struck down just like similar attempts before (usually some anti-child-porn initiatives). But you still need somebody to fight it.

[k9inkrabi]

Ain't gonna Happen!

Yeah - better donate to the EFF because frankly they're often the only ones who stand up and fight BS like this.

It seems to be a direct violation of the second amendment so not much chance of this happening - would get struck down just like similar attempts before (usually some anti-child-porn initiatives). But you still need somebody to fight it.

If your referring to the US amendments. The 2nd ammendment is the right to bear arms. Possibly you mean the 1st ammendment which is the guarantee of freedom of religion and speech

Edited October 8, 2010 by k9inkrabi

[Jdietz]

Finally a good reason to use a third-party DNS, with open top-level domain names. There were a few initiatives in the past, but they never got popular enough to make a difference.

Now due to this legislation, these will soon be set as default by any ISP outside the US, and set manually by those inside.

As they are privately run DNS resolvers, they are not dependent on the US based TLD servers or registrars.

All in all, good news for freedom.

[Crushdepth]

If the top level domain registries are in the US, they are subject to US law. That's bad news for the rest of the planet. Time to move them offshore.

[cup-O-coffee]

If the top level domain registries are in the US, they are subject to US law. That's bad news for the rest of the planet. Time to move them offshore.

I agree, but my concern is that anyone else doing this would not have the quality of service and speed. It might take a few years, and bugs to work out. That is in a perfect world, and without the US interfering. On the flip side, most of the micro technology parts are now fabricated in Taiwan, and exported around the world. I wonder which country could break this hegemony and start their own domain service, just like GOOGLE and the others, and not face some sort of flashback from the US. The US and its allies are pretty good at giving headaches to anyone who opposes them, since the US pretty much controls most of the world's countries that use the dollar and are dependent on US support for their money. It would have to be a country that is independent of the US dollar and has a strong currency.

It will be a better world when countries break the yolk of economic woes that the US has placed on everyone's shoulders.

Anyways, for those who believe it ain't gonna happen, it is a little too late to say that, considering things as compared to 40 years ago. Frogs say it ain't gonna happen, and don't change their tune until the water begins to boil. But then its too late. The US PATRIOT Act and other presidential powers laws have replaced the constitution, so quoting an outdated text is futile.

It seems that just about any place in the world where there is a problem, that it can be directly or indirectly traced to the USA.Inc or one of its allies, who are stirring the pot. War makes money, and the US war machine and media acolytes are just gearing up. First the war of terror, then the war on keeping the earth green, and now the war on Internet freedoms; all in order to protect corporate gluttony and greed. Russia and China seem to be the only remaining countries that have the power stand up to USA,Inc. and start an independent domain service, but then there is the question of integrity and self-control and, yes, freedom of speech and expression.

Just my opinion, is all.

[huma79]

To the original poster - I think you either don't understand or didn't read the COICA law fact sheet. Don't get me wrong, I am totally against it and believe it goes against everything the internet stands for. However, I get the impression your post is more of an anti-American rant than a fight for freedom of information..

The COICA bill basically puts the US government on par with Thailand and China as far as censoring internet sites they don't like. However, this is an issue for US citizens, not the rest of the world. Nowhere in that COICA fact sheet does it mention that this law affects ICANN directly. Most likely, DNS poisoning would be setup to the boundaries of incoming US traffic. In other words, people could just register the domain and server outside of US territory to get around the blacklist. This is already extremely simple to do. The only people who wouldn't be able to access it would be people in the US. The rest of the world would go on their merry way, similar to what happens to banned websites in Thailand and China.