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Judging by the hearings today, some members of Congress are prepared to consider radical measures to rid the internet of "rogue" websites accused of piracy. Among them: getting the search engines such as Google (NSDQ: GOOG) change their research results and order ISPs to block certain websites from purely and simply U.S. viewers. Until several months ago, Congress has never even discussed taking steps like these. The fact that they are now on the table is probably a function of several factors, including an aggressive campaign by the entertainment industry and a proliferation of illegal content online.
Congress has begun to consider the idea of allowing the application of the Federal Act to block Web sites in September, when Senator Patrick Leahy introduced the controversial Bill COICA in the last Congress. The House of representatives is now considering a similar proposal, although, no Bill has been introduced.
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This debate is taking place in a context in which the Government has already begun get more aggressive with piracy. Since the middle of last year, immigration and customs officials have seized more than 100 domain names Web sites they claim were contempt of the laws of copyright and trademarks.
Highlights from the hearing included:
Spokesperson of Hollywood describes a "shadow economy" illicit content Frederick Huntsberry, chief operating officer of Paramount Pictures, describes how just four or five clicks of a simple search Google, consumers are likely to come into contact with websites the contents of stream of Paramount and others without permission. Huntsberry said that the big problem is the thriving "cyberlocker" sites that encourage users to download movies and other content by offering rewards. Huntsberry believes that only a site MegaUpload, wins the annual profit between $ 40 million and $ 300 million.
Congress must pass legislation to "level the playing field" between the pirate sites and legitimate suppliers, said Huntsberry. "We have reached the limits of mutual assistance", he said, noting that Paramount has sent more than 40 million "notice of infringement" last year, but he is not the tooth of piracy much. (It is not clear exactly what Huntsberry meant by a "notice of infringement", given that later in the hearing, it was said that Paramount sent 1.5 million records for removal copyright.) Piracy is stealing us jobs and tax revenue, he added.
Sympathy for the cause but the frustration at the lack of details. At least a member of the Congress was clearly favourable to global cause of the Huntsberry but frustrated by the lack of details in the proposal. Huntsberry and other witnesses should have put a specific proposal to the table to tell Congress what he must do, said REP. John Conyers (D-Michigan). "I am disappointed in all of the witnesses," said Conyers.
"We have the possibility for the law enforcement officers to go after the rogue Web sites," said Huntsberry. "It is now impossible to even find who are the owners of these sites, or where they are served."
Another witness, analyst Daniel Castro of Information technology & Innovation Foundation, Donna Conyers some of the details he was seeking: Congress should simply create a black list of sites, then ISP block and tell search engines to remove lists of results of research of the force. "The Federal Government should work with industry to create a master list of all these sites," said Castro. "You could require providers of services and financial networks to stop doing business with these sites".
Ready to tweak search results? In his presentation, Huntsberry showed how simple research search terms normal - like "stream" or "watch movies online" - always made many websites considers "rogue" sites entertainment industry. Which clearly had an impact on the control panel and a few different members, including the REP. Tom Reed (R - n .INCLUDING.) and representative of Sandy Adams (R - FL), asked about the possibility of giving research priorities to the media "authorized" options like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX). For example, by typing a search for "movies stream" in Google makes the link at the top of the page a site called solar films, who hacked Huntsberry as a site full of links to the content, including just-released films such as adjustment of Paramount Office.
Most of the Panel appeared in support of the idea of cracking down on Web sites 'pariahs', but some were critical. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D - San Jose) new emerged as one of the few opponents of Congress to a simplified system for websites accused of piracy. Earlier this month, entered Government Lofgren criticizedthe of Web sites. Today, Lofgren said fear that a right of withdrawal of Web site leaves room for fair use or other legitimate uses of the author. And she also implied that she is concerned about legislators directing search engines and Internet service providers. "If we enter the design of the technology by the Government of the United States, which, too, will move to the offshore," she said.
Rep. Mel Watt (D - n BW) had some concerns about what kind of due process should be involved with deletion of a Web site. Huntsberry and Castro, said that it was not important to let the accused address a judge prior to their Web sites have taken; to return a day or two after the seizure took place is sufficient, they said. Watts was clearly uncomfortable with this proposal. "If you look at the physical assets, they are seized without review by the Court," stressed the Castro. "I was not too hot on this process, not more," said Watts. Even if the goods are illegal, the accused must have the opportunity to present their case before their property is taken, said Watts.
Interim Regitrar of Copyright Maria Pallante stated that the closure of a site Web "infringement" would not violate the first amendment. But "even the worst of the worse should receive notices", she said, and relief to the owners of copyright must be "closely tailored." Pallante has not taken a position on the question of whether the Government should tweak the search results, simply stating that it is "a more difficult question."
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