By Benjamin Knauff, Staff Writer
A new bill before congress could empower the US Department of Justice to shut down file sharing services that facilitate illegal copyright infringement.
"The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act will give the Department of Justice an expedited process for cracking down on these rogue Web sites regardless of whether the Web site's owner is located inside or outside of the United States," said Vermont Senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy.
In the case of Web sites with domain names located within the Unites States, the Act would allow the Attorney General to request an order specifying that the domain name is in violation of piracy laws. The Justice Department would then serve an order on the site registrar that they must shut down the website or face civil penalties.
Domain names located outside of theUnited States China
The Justice Department will also be authorized to cut off credit card transactions and ad-revenue originating from theUnited States
The Act could be a boon to ailing record companies, whose attempts to curb illegal music downloading through individual lawsuits appear to have been largely fruitless. Movie studios also stand to gain much from the Act, as it may be an effective measure to recoup lost revenue due to the growing popularity of Torrent Web sites, which allow users to download movies and other large files in small pieces from multiple users.
The new Act would seem to be something of a contrast toCanada
Benjamin Knauff is a staff writer for Juris. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration fromWestminster College
A new bill before congress could empower the US Department of Justice to shut down file sharing services that facilitate illegal copyright infringement.
In the case of Web sites with domain names located within the Unites States, the Act would allow the Attorney General to request an order specifying that the domain name is in violation of piracy laws. The Justice Department would then serve an order on the site registrar that they must shut down the website or face civil penalties.
Domain names located outside of the
The Justice Department will also be authorized to cut off credit card transactions and ad-revenue originating from the
The Act could be a boon to ailing record companies, whose attempts to curb illegal music downloading through individual lawsuits appear to have been largely fruitless. Movie studios also stand to gain much from the Act, as it may be an effective measure to recoup lost revenue due to the growing popularity of Torrent Web sites, which allow users to download movies and other large files in small pieces from multiple users.
The new Act would seem to be something of a contrast to
Benjamin Knauff is a staff writer for Juris. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from
