Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, introduced new legislation today that would let copyright holders force ISPs to block foreign websites hosting pirate streams of TV shows and movies. If passed, The Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA) would create a regimented system for copyright owners to fight back against what Lofgren said was a stream of piracy online.
In her press release about FADPA, Lofgren noted that piracy had surged in recent years, cost the entertainment industry tens of billions of dollars, and threatened hundreds of jobs. She said that previous attempts to fight piracy in the legislature, such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), failed because they were too broad.
FADPA is targeted only at foreign websites and would require a court order from a judge to be enforced on a case-by-case basis. Lofgren’s press release said that the law would be pro-First Amendment and could help an industry beset by pirates. “Every blocking order must go through a U.S. court, requiring clear evidence, due process, and judicial oversight to ensure fair enforcement and prevent censorship,” the press release said.
Privacy and digital freedom advocates are less confident. The Re:Create Coalition, a consumer advocacy group that works for a balanced copyright system, decried the proposed legislation. “FADPA and similar ‘site-blocking’ proposals would give Big Content the internet killswitch it has sought for decades,” Re:Create Executive Director Brandon Butler, said in a statement. “Copyright is hotly contested and infamously easy to use as a cudgel against free speech online. FADPA’s one-sided proceedings will be an irresistible tool for internet trolls and censors.”
FADPA sounds reasonable on paper but could be abused in practice. It would be like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act on steroids, a 1998 act that has led to corporations policing fair use online. Companies like YouTube tend to remove first and ask questions later when a company like Disney or Nintendo hands out a DMCA takedown notice, even if they’re illegitimate.
Lofgren defended the law in the press release where she announced it and said she’d worked closely with Hollywood to craft it. “The Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act is a smart, targeted approach that focuses on safety and intellectual property, while simultaneously upholding due process, respecting free speech, and ensuring enforcement is narrowly focused on the actual problem at hand,” she said. “Compromise is often found when you sit and hash out policy recommendations with the workers, companies, and users directly involved, and I appreciate the support from the tech and content communities in this effort.”
FADPA has a long way to go before it becomes the law of the land. As of this writing, it isn’t available online in the Congressional record. It will take months to quibble over before it’s passed, if it ever is.
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