The U.S. House of Representatives today introduced H.R. 3261, The Stop Online Piracy Act, a bipartisan bill that would promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. intellectual property. Eight members joined House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), IP Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Howard [...]

John Stuart Mill defined liberty as the freedom to do anything, so long as it does not impinge on the rights of others.  So the UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt reminded us this week in a speech to the Royal Television Society in Cambridge. Speaking about the need to “explore all options to make life [...]

A group of content companies and Internet service providers today announced a new consumer education initiative that will coordinate efforts to notify Internet service subscribers when their accounts are being used to download infringing content. The agreement establishes a multi-layered system of “Copyright Alerts” and a new Center for Copyright Information to help administer the [...]

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organization of 34 member countries including the United States that develops and promotes policy to foster economic and social well-being worldwide, is meeting this week in Paris to discuss Internet policy. A document resulting from these talks outlines 14 principles for Internet policy development, including an [...]

A Different View on PROTECT-IP and the Internet Opponents of legislation to protect American small businesses, artists, authors and entrepreneurs from digital theft have waged a scare campaign about the supposed effect of the bill on the functionality of the Internet. Various individuals have rebutted these claims, including the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. A [...]

Numerous news outlets this morning reported that the MPAA, RIAA and internet service providers are nearing agreement on a long discussed proposal to better educate internet users on legal options for receiving entertainment content online, and to inform consumers who repeatedly engage in infringement online that their actions are inappropriate. We have not seen the [...]

There was a good post on Copyhype this week in support of the PROTECT IP Act and S.978 that argued that as the Internet continues to evolve, the laws regulating it should similarly evolve and adapt. The author notes there are many who think that the only people who need to adapt are content creators, [...]

In the wake of unanimous Senate Judiciary Committee passage of the PROTECT IP Act, Public Knowledge offered this week the same litany of excuses for taking no action against digital theft of American intellectual property online, and appears content to see American workers harmed as a result. In matters of policy debate, it is unfortunate [...]

It was disappointing this week to read comments made by Senator Ron Wyden about potential legislation that would give law enforcement more tools to police bad actors in the Internet marketplace. Individuals and crime syndicates – oftentimes outside the United States – are setting up websites that traffic in unlicensed intellectual property and counterfeit goods. [...]

Even as Members of Congress are drafting legislation designed to help rein in websites that traffic counterfeit and pirated products, an obscure but powerful non-profit is considering actions that have the potential to blow up the problem exponentially. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a California-based non-profit corporation established in 1998 [...]