![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xaq_the_aereonOne of the biggest concerns I've heard time and again about SOPA is that it would kill the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), that little protection from liability that sites like YouTube have that spares them from prosecution of having copyrighted material on their sites so long as they take the stuff down once they're informed of it.
That was a rather large concern of mine as well...reading back through it again, though, I found this: Section 102.c.2.iii
Section 102 (ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PROTECT U.S. CUSTOMERS AND PREVENT U.S. SUPPORT OF FOREIGN INFRINGING SITES)
c (ACTIONS BASED ON COURT ORDERS)
2 (REASONABLE MEASURES)
A (SERVICE PROVIDERS)
iii (CONSTRUCTION) Nothing in this subparagraph shall affect the limitation on the liability of a service provider under section 512 of title 17, United States Code.
US Code title 17, section 512 is what the DMCA falls under. In short, those concerns are kinda busted.
Also, I've seen people get into such a tizzy about the definitions set on what sites are subject to prosecution in 102.a....
(a) Definition- For purposes of this section, a foreign Internet site or portion thereof is a `foreign infringing site' if--
(1) the Internet site or portion thereof is a U.S.-directed site and is used by users in the United States;
(2) the owner or operator of such Internet site is committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations punishable under section 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90, of title 18, United States Code; and
(3) the Internet site would, by reason of acts described in paragraph (1), be subject to seizure in the United States in an action brought by the Attorney General if such site were a domestic Internet site.
without noticing that its first line specifically limits it to foreign internet sites, which it defines as such in section 101 (listed out of order for clarity's sake):
(8)FOREIGN INTERNET SITE- The term `foreign Internet site' means an Internet site that is not a domestic Internet site.
(5)DOMESTIC INTERNET SITE- The term `domestic Internet site' means an Internet site for which the corresponding domain name or, if there is no domain name, the corresponding Internet Protocol address, is a domestic domain name or domestic Internet Protocol address.
(3) DOMESTIC DOMAIN NAME- The term `domestic domain name' means a domain name that is registered or assigned by a domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration authority, that is located within a judicial district of the United States.
(4) DOMESTIC INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS- The term `domestic Internet Protocol address' means an Internet Protocol address for which the corresponding Internet Protocol allocation entity is located within a judicial district of the United States.
In other words, unless the website's domain name or IP address originate in an area outside of US jurisdiction, it appears that SOPA cannot be applied to that website.
Huh.
While I still find this thing to be a terrible idea overall, the more I study it, the more I find that all of our reactions to it might be a bit of overkill as well...still, I'm rather hoping this doesn't pass.
INFORMATION SOURCE: here.
That was a rather large concern of mine as well...reading back through it again, though, I found this: Section 102.c.2.iii
Section 102 (ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PROTECT U.S. CUSTOMERS AND PREVENT U.S. SUPPORT OF FOREIGN INFRINGING SITES)
c (ACTIONS BASED ON COURT ORDERS)
2 (REASONABLE MEASURES)
A (SERVICE PROVIDERS)
iii (CONSTRUCTION) Nothing in this subparagraph shall affect the limitation on the liability of a service provider under section 512 of title 17, United States Code.
US Code title 17, section 512 is what the DMCA falls under. In short, those concerns are kinda busted.
Also, I've seen people get into such a tizzy about the definitions set on what sites are subject to prosecution in 102.a....
(a) Definition- For purposes of this section, a foreign Internet site or portion thereof is a `foreign infringing site' if--
(1) the Internet site or portion thereof is a U.S.-directed site and is used by users in the United States;
(2) the owner or operator of such Internet site is committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations punishable under section 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90, of title 18, United States Code; and
(3) the Internet site would, by reason of acts described in paragraph (1), be subject to seizure in the United States in an action brought by the Attorney General if such site were a domestic Internet site.
without noticing that its first line specifically limits it to foreign internet sites, which it defines as such in section 101 (listed out of order for clarity's sake):
(8)FOREIGN INTERNET SITE- The term `foreign Internet site' means an Internet site that is not a domestic Internet site.
(5)DOMESTIC INTERNET SITE- The term `domestic Internet site' means an Internet site for which the corresponding domain name or, if there is no domain name, the corresponding Internet Protocol address, is a domestic domain name or domestic Internet Protocol address.
(3) DOMESTIC DOMAIN NAME- The term `domestic domain name' means a domain name that is registered or assigned by a domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration authority, that is located within a judicial district of the United States.
(4) DOMESTIC INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS- The term `domestic Internet Protocol address' means an Internet Protocol address for which the corresponding Internet Protocol allocation entity is located within a judicial district of the United States.
In other words, unless the website's domain name or IP address originate in an area outside of US jurisdiction, it appears that SOPA cannot be applied to that website.
Huh.
While I still find this thing to be a terrible idea overall, the more I study it, the more I find that all of our reactions to it might be a bit of overkill as well...still, I'm rather hoping this doesn't pass.
INFORMATION SOURCE: here.
