In a bid to curb online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods, a
group of key US lawmakers are introduced legislation on Monday that
would give the Justice Department the power to "file an in rem civil
action against a domain name on Internet sites dedicated to infringing
activities," reports Tech Daily Dose.
"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," according to a statement from
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
and committee member Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Utah).
"Each year, online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods cost
American businesses billions of dollars, and result in hundreds of
thousands of lost jobs," Leahy, a co-sponsor of the bill, said. "The
Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act will protect the
investment American companies make in developing brands and creating
content and will protect the jobs associated with those investments."
According to a staffer from Leahy's office, if the site resides outside
the United States, the bill would authorise "the attorney general to
serve the court order on other specified third parties, such as Internet
service providers, payment processors, and online ad network
providers," according to a further report from CNET.
CNET believes that the legislation would attempt to stop the websites
from being accessible from the US "or cut them off from credit card
transactions or receiving ad revenue from U.S. companies."
The legislation has bipartisan support and was applauded by
representatives from the film, television and music industries in the
US.
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