![\"stop](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stop-danger-1.jpg\")
After a decade of focusing on efforts overseas, the push for website blocking has landed back on American shores. <\/p>\nAfter a decade of focusing on efforts overseas, the push for website blocking has landed back on American shores. <\/p>\n
Domestic site blocking initiatives were shelved for over a decade in the U.S. following the SOPA backlash, but that hesitation appears to have evaporated. <\/p>\n
With Representative Zoe Lofgren\u2019s introduction of the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA<\/a>) in February, the controversial mechanism of court-ordered blocking against foreign \u2018pirate\u2019 sites is no longer just a foreign issue. On the contrary, with more than one bill<\/a> in the making, lawmakers and stakeholders are actively fleshing out the details.<\/p>\n Thus far, most of the work on these site blocking agreements has taken place behind closed doors. We know that ISPs are involved but none have commented on the matter in public. The same is true for rightsholders who, after the massive SOPA revolt, prefer private negotiations over demands in the public spotlight.<\/p>\n As a pioneer of site blocking efforts<\/a> around the globe, it\u2019s no secret that the Motion Picture Association (MPA) is in favor. And indeed, at a recent hearing at the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, the MPA\u2019s Karyn Temple reiterated the need for a U.S. site-blocking system. <\/p>\n The MPA\u2019s Senior Executive Vice President explained that pirate sites generate billions of visits a year by \u2018stealing\u2019 American films and TV series. These sites are not simple hobby projects, but commercial operations run by criminal groups from foreign countries. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are run not by individual teens in someone\u2019s basement, but by sophisticated foreign criminal organizations who are involved in the most heinous criminal behavior you can imagine,\u201d Temple said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they are specifically designed to target American citizens, your constituents, for their personal and financial data and to expose them to malware and identity theft,\u201d <\/p>\n American consumers are specifically targeted by these sites because they are lucrative victims, Temple said. Additionally, it is of course convenient that sites are not blocked in the U.S., unlike in 55 other countries, where blocking remedies are available.<\/p>\n The MPA\u2019s testimony offers little fresh news. The group has shared similar views for several years now but this time around, it appears that progress is actually being made, albeit behind the scenes. <\/p>\n Democratic Senator Chris Coons, the recent recipient of an MPA Industry Champion Award<\/a>, shared some new information during the hearing. He noted that \u201creal progress\u201d appears to have been made, while also identifying a previously undisclosed roadblock. <\/p>\n Discussions on potential site blocking legislation are taking place alongside a request from ISPs for both prospective and retrospective immunity. That basically boils down to a demand for an exemption on piracy liability, regardless of when any infringement took place.<\/p>\n \u201cIt finally feels like we\u2019re making some real progress here on site blocking after years. One of the key roadblocks to getting a final deal is whether ISPs should benefit from immunity, both prospectively and retrospectively,\u201d Senator Coons said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n When asked to comment on the ISPs\u2019 request, the MPA replied that this shouldn\u2019t be much of a problem, as the immunity issue never led to any legal claims in other countries. <\/p>\n \u201cISPs have not routinely been sued for enforcing site blocking regimes. So, you know, I think in our experience, we don\u2019t think that this is a provision that is necessary at all,\u201d Temple replied. <\/p>\n Temple is right that site blocking schemes haven\u2019t triggered a wave of lawsuits abroad, but the ISPs may have another interest in retrospective immunity when it comes to piracy liability. <\/p>\n While details of their exact demands are unknown, it seems plausible that ISPs are seeking to limit the existing piracy liability lawsuits, where providers are sued for not taking appropriate action against repeat infringers. <\/p>\n These lawsuits involve many prominent ISPs, including Verizon<\/a> and Cox. The latter was previously held liable for a billion dollars<\/a> in damages and the ISP recently appealed to the Supreme Court<\/a> to take on the matter. <\/p>\n With these cases in mind, it\u2019s understandable that ISPs would like to make sure that, if new legislation passes, they wouldn\u2019t find themselves worse off from a liability perspective. <\/p>\n Unfortunately, none of these site blocking \u2018deal\u2019 discussions between stakeholders are taking place in public. So, for now, we have to make do with the snippets that come out through hearings and other commentary. <\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s starting to look like a U.S. site blocking scheme is closer to reality than ever before. At the hearing, Temple sounded confident that it could pass this session, which means a matter of months, not years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe MPA stands ready to work with you and all stakeholders to enact judicial site blocking this session. It\u2019s time, finally, to get this legislation over the finish line,\u201d Temple said. <\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n The full video of the hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary\u2019s subcommittee on Intellectual Property that took place last week is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nMPA Spotlights Site Blocking at Senate Hearing<\/h2>\n
ISPs Seek Retroactive Immunity<\/h2>\n
![\"coons\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coons.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nU.S. Liability Lawsuits Against ISPs<\/h2>\n
Finish Line in Sight?<\/h2>\n
![available here<\/a>.<\/p>\nFrom: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nPowered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a decade of focusing on efforts overseas, the push for website blocking has landed back on American shores. Domestic site blocking initiatives were shelved for over a decade in the U.S. following the SOPA backlash, but that hesitation appears to have evaporated. With Representative Zoe Lofgren\u2019s introduction of the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/isvp\/?auto_play=false&comm=judiciary&filename=judiciary051425&poster=https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/assets\/images\/video-poster.png&stt=\"){kind=link}