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Piracy websites in danger
2011-10-27
US judiciary introduced a bill on Wed that would give US authorities more tools to tighten up on web sites charged with robbery of pictures, TV shows and music and the sale of fake products. The Stop Online Robbery Act has received bipartisan support in the House of Members and is the House version of a bill introduced in the Senate in May called the Burglary of Intellectual Property Act or Protect IP Act. The law has received the backing of Hollywood, the music biz, the Business Management Software coalition, the Nation's organisation of Makers , the US Chamber of Commerce and other groups. It has come under criticism from digital rights and freedom of speech associations for purportedly leading the way for US law enforcement to unconditionally shut down internet sites, including foreign sites, without due process. House Judiciary Board boss Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, related the bill "helps stop the flow of cash to rogue sites and guarantees the profits from American discoveries go to American trend setters. "Rogue sites that nick and sell American discoveries have operated with impunity," Smith announced in an announcement. "The web scammers who run these foreign sites are out of the reach of US law enforcement agencies and profit from selling bootleg products without any legal consequences," he revealed. "The bill forestalls online scammers from selling fake products in the USA, expands global protections for intellectual property, and protects American buyers from deadly fake products," Smith recounted. Howard Berman, a Left winger from California who co-sponsored the law, stated that it is "an significant next step in the struggle against digital burglary and sends a powerful message that the U. S. won't waiver in our battle to guard America's creators and innovators." The House Judiciary Board is to hold a hearing on the bill on Nov sixteen. The Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology ( CDT ) declared the House bill "raises heavy red flags. "It includes the most highly contested parts of the Senate's Protect IP Act, but radically expands the scope," the CDT asserted in a press release. "Any web site that features user-generated content or that permits cloud-based information storage could finish up in its crosshairs. "Internet Service Suppliers would face new and open-ended needs to watch and police user behavior," the CDT announced. "Payment processors and ad networks would be needed to chop off business with any site that rightsholders allege has not done enough to police transgression. "The bill represents a significant threat to online invention and to valid online communications tools," it announced.
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