Chris Coons Fumbles in His First Week
Our new Senator, Chris Coons, made his way onto a list today, and it isn’t the list of independent thinkers. Today, in a Judiciary Committee meeting, the committee voted unanimously to approve the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA). The act seems, at first blush, to be a good idea. The goal is to shut down websites that contain material that infringes on copyrighted material. However, as you dig into it a little deeper, as EFF.org has, you see that it does so much more.
EFF is deeply disappointed to report that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the COICA Internet censorship bill this morning, despite bipartisan opposition, and countless experts pointing out how it would be ineffective, unconstitutional, bad for innovation and the tech economy, and would break the Internet.
Essentially, the bill would allow the AG to shut down entire sites by domain name if they are deemed to have infringement as their primary purpose. EFF points out that YouTube would likely have been killed in the cradle when users uploaded copyrighted material at a rate that YouTube couldn’t police.
In addition, the whole thing would encourage wholesale migration to alternative off-shore domain name service providers. Imagine a Firefox plugin that allows you to surf to sites that have been banned. It would be pretty easy, but it would increase the network load on the Internet backbone by an estimated 20%. In the process, it would probably end up moving even more jobs overseas as well.
Finally, the bill is a hammer that is being used to kill a fly. Whole website domain names could be impacted. Suppose there was a WordPress.com blog dedicated to finding places to download copyrighted music and films. Could the feds come in and whack the whole domain, killing thousands of blogs full of excellent content, just to kill a sub-site that is dedicated to doing bad things.
This is exactly the kind of thing that we laugh at countries like China and Turkey for. Turkey had, in fact, blocked WordPress because it hosted websites that talked about Turkish genocide of Armenians. There are already ways to deal with this. Lawsuits can be brought against the person responsible (I have been personally threatened with a lawsuit over this blog), the offending content can be deleted (as Google does now with videos, upon request).
I am very disappointed that Chris Coons’ first vote that gets coverage on DL is critical, but seriously Senator Coons, you’re better than this.
Tags: Chris Coons, copyrights, freedom, The Internets
Darn it all. More government intervention. After taking away four locos, they are considering this.
I just can’t wait to fly on November 24th and go through a full body scan.
Too bad he didn’t call you before voting Geek.
Give him a chance. He’s just trying to serve his masters.
More information:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/bill-would-nuke-visa-cards-adwords-dns-records-for-pirates.ars
Now I wish I had voted for Christine. She is me and she would do what I would do.
Now, now, LG–ease up–the poor guy hasn’t had time to read his train ticket, let alone catch up on the nuances you’ve outlined. Perhaps you’d rather someone who votes “present”? 🙂
Love you Chris Coons. Go get ’em next time!!!!
I am disappointed in this vote by Coons, and I know I will disagree with much of his stance on patents. Yet he is a smart guy and it would’ve generally been more disastrous to have had Christine O’Donnell in there, whose vote on this complicated topic I cannot begin to predict.
I will not ease up on the guy. He wanted the job, he know he would need to start right away. He should have been ready to make decisions like these. I suspect that he didn’t vote in favor out of confusion as Joanne would like you to think, but because that is what he was tasked to do. Get a more independent mindset please Senator Coons.
Joanne – these are not nuances. This is an issue of siding with corporations vs. siding with people. It is an unfortunate omen from Senator Coons.
The whole idea is to relieve corporations of the expense of proving their case in court, and shifting the burden of proof to the accused. The bill is most likely unconstitutional:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.3804:
Suppose there was a WordPress.com blog dedicated to finding places to download copyrighted music and films.
This is exactly what Napster did. But Napster got its day in court before it was shut down. COICA takes away your day in court and replaces it with an administrative process driven by industry.
EFF:
The idea of targeting “domain names” via the DNS system reflects the ignorance of the bill authors about the Internet.
Geeks have a saying:
“The Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.”
Using DNS takedowns as the enforcement mechanism is just stupid. Geeks will set up their own DNS servers or some other mechanism, and will pretty soon make it easy enough for everybody to do the same. It is already not that hard.
You elected a millionaire, corporate head. And you’re disappointed how he voted? Stand by for more of the same.
Where does Coons stand on the Bush tax cuts???????????????
UPDATE: Wyden kills COICA.
Thank you Senator Wyden! Now that’s what I’m talking about!
Way to go, Senator Wyden! Now if we could get him on the case to get Net Neutrality passed, we’d be golden.
Do you think Chris did what he was told instead of researching that terrible bill? We gotta watch this guy!
Chris stated “he didnt agree to cap at $250,000”. Guess he wants to make sure his millionaire friends, including himself are included. I hope this guy does’nt turn into another Blue Dog like Carper.
There were also some other unlikely Yes votes on that committee vote, including Franken and Feingold. With hindsight, you have to wonder if they didn’t already know the bill would be killed outside the committee. Or if they simply knew the committee would approve it even if they did vote No. No point incurring the wrath of the media industry if there is nothing to gain by it. Eleven-dimensional chess, anyone?
There are two sides to this story. International media piracy is out of control. It steals from performers, other copyright owners and American production workers.
The bill provided a “day in court.”
I’m more concerned about net neutrality, especially with the mediocrity of Comcast about to consume NBC.
No Belinski, this is using the criminal justice system to enforce things that the civil courts can already handle. Plus it does it in a way that forces third parties to jump through hoops. Napster was shut down with the laws we have now.
Actually, the intent of COICA was to provide an enforcement mechanism against offshore servers. For US-based servers, the existing DMCA already provides sufficient excuse for the jackbooted thugs to take you down without a court hearing.
Supposedly the intent of COICA was to be used only against offshore servers not in the jurisdiction of DMCA. I didn’t read the bill carefully enough to see if that is actually spelled out or enforced in the text.
COICA relies on the fact that the US retains physical control of the root nameservers… no wonder we fought so hard to retain control when international interests proposed to share control a few years back.
But messing with the nameservers is a bad idea on so many levels; just ask any geek. The blockage will be quickly bypassed while integrity of the system is lost and new DNS mechanisms are developed outside of US jurisdiction.
Honestly, with the potential for the loss of US control over DNS and proliferation of new mechanisms, I think the biggest opponent of COICA would be the US intelligence community.
The bill does not “use the criminal justice system.” Much misinformation out there.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/press_releases/release/?id=45b5a544-0f49-46d8-9782-ab7a3fe43a1f
The bill does not “use the criminal justice system.” Much misinformation out there.
Belinsky is correct. It turns the accusation infringement from a criminal to a civil violation, removing even more protections from the accused. The plaintiff has no need to prove its case because the penalty has already been levied. The accused’s day in court is limited to petitioning for their DNS entry back.
The left should have better causes than protecting cybersquatters and copyright pirates.
It’s about protecting the usefulness and the economic value of the Internet. And if COICA turns out to be used against domestic entities, it will be about protecting the Constitution as well.
Cybersquatters and copyright pirates will not be harmed by COICA; in fact they will become stronger with new unblockable sites.
The real issue is copyright reform.
The more you tighten your grip, Belinsky, the more nameservers will slip through your fingers.
Do you really think any rookie in the Senate can be an “independent thinker”? That aint how it works. He has to get into a group and vote with that group in order to get the pork for his state that he will need to get re-elected. Plain and simple. Look for more of the same. Some day if he survives long enough he will be calling the shots in his group, but for now he’s low chump on the totem pole.
Rand Paul, Tom Coburn, Jesse Helms, Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio all seemed to be pretty independent thinkers right off the bat. On the left, Howard Metzenbaum, Alan Cranston, Chuck Schumer, and Bobby Kennedy are good examples of independent thinkers right off the bat. Let’s admit that Chris Coons isn’t up to that rare example. He is just Harry Reid’s pet. At least we got what was advertised so I can’t complain.
David – we all know you have a rock – why don’t you just slither your vile ass back under it
you have your own blog and your own brand of idiots
is “nitpicker” blowing your arguments out of the water and you cannot handle the heat
or
are you in truth, losing your own blog? – it is taken over by the radicals.
Believe me, the rest of your Board is NOT happy with the “Pinochet weekend” and your stand – you should remember your position better and that you DO have to answer to your funders – who are not happy either.
Someone with those views should not be on the Board of an educational facility and you have put your position at risk.
and the parents ain’t happy neither
so hang on to that – and good luck hanging on to the storm that is coming your way
David, the supporter of the blood-thirsty dictator Pinochet, is on the Board of an Educational facility?
BTW, interesting how he supports Rand Paul, a person who thinks that the civil rights act shouldn’t apply to private businesses.
@anonone:
Didn’t you know?
http://www.delawarepolitics.net/author/david-anderson/
David Anderson is a citizen activist who has served the community in several areas. He is a member of the Academy of Dover Charter School board of directors, a former Dover Human Relations Commissioner, past Chair of Delaware Right to Life PAC, Proud member of the Delaware Army National Guard, former Because We Care Inc. alternative school board member, Republican committee person, and co-founder of the Delaware Initiative and Referendum Coalition.
I know his BOARD is NOT happy right about now….nor will the Dept of Ed be either!!
Coons is about to make another huge and flawed mistake. He is not supporting tax cuts for the middle class, but is willing to “extend” them for others. Did we not support “the witch” and we end up with a “blue dog corporate witch doctor”?
Actually in defense of David, he is brave to stick his neck over here… I remember one of Tommywonks anniversary postings, where he stated that give and take in comments, brought out the better of both parties.
In that process, it was easy to see the truth and the bull.. David is the only one I regularly see willing to express the views on these pages.. WE may deprecate his viewpoints, but they are in truth shared by a large proportion of this nation, from Florida to Montana…
Those viewpoints, delusional as they may be, now control the U.S. House of Representatives.
Making fun of David only does one thing: makes us look bad, especially to those who “rail” against Liberals. Well, … … we are acting out the character with which we are derisively portrayed….
With so many resources, it is far better to challenge and rebut with facts. Perhaps that is why we lost the battle this past election? (Delaware is very fact oriented; we bucked the national trend) The rest of the nation used hoopla, and left out the fact that Republicanism caused two Great Depressions, including the one we are living in today.
The Republican House will be a blessing, just as the Gingrich House by it’s ineptitude, gave us 4 more years of Clinton. But to counter it, we have to use facts. Just the facts, ma’am.
Hat’s off to David, for at least attempting to bring in a different viewpoint to light us up a little… now if only we can stop the popping seeds…..
I guess kavips would tip has hat to other types of bigots and supporters of brutal authoritarian regimes for their bravery to spread their hateful toxic views.
Making fun of David’s bigotry and his support of bloody totalitarian regimes that have killed thousands of “commie libs” is the politest thing we can do. Personally, I think his expressions of support for those who would kill liberals for their political beliefs is about as vile and offensive as you can get, and he doesn’t deserve a single electron or kb of memory from Delaware Liberal servers.
With so many resources, it is far better to challenge and rebut with facts.
And where have you been during these interactions with Delusional David? Challenge and rebut with facts is pretty much what he gets — he never acknowledges any of it and when it is clear you’ve made your point, he moves the goalposts.
This is NOT an argument about a differing viewpoint — it is an argument about basic facts. And David refuses to be part of the fact-based community. All of the back and forth he goes through here is not about *viewpoint*, it is about trying to make the rest of the world accept the dishonesty and the lies that he has accepted in order to support an agenda that never supports him. He is, of course, free to believe what he wants. He is not free from criticism for being so belligerently insistent that the lies his handlers feed him are a real way to think about the world’s problems.
Part of the problem, of course, are all of the so-called good liberals who want to help normalize all of this dishonesty be calling it a “differing viewpoint”. There is little about that *viewpoint* that doesn’t rely on a narrative history that is just plain (and demonstrably) wrong. And you can demonstrate that until the cows come home, but that fool deals in facts and data the same way Fox News does. Which is to say, not at all. And shame on you for trying to help their alternate facts project get further legitimacy.