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‘Internet kill switch’ bill may be rushed to a vote this week

PC Mag reports today a vote on the controversial SOPA bill in Congress, expanding executive authority to order the shutdown of Internet sites, may possibly be rushed to a vote this week as citizen opposition grows.

The House Judiciary Committee might consider the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) this year after all. A committee spokeswoman said today that if the House is in session on Wednesday, SOPA will be on the agenda…

…SOPA would expand the ability of the Justice Department to go after Web sites overseas that traffic in fake goods like counterfeit purses or prescription drugs. According to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lamar Smith, the DOJ would have to get a court order against an infringing site, and if granted, could request that the site be blocked. Search engines would then have to remove links to those sites…

…Critics, however, are concerned that the bill is too far-reaching and broad, and could potentially harm Web sites that don’t actually contain infringing content or were acting in good faith…

…Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a motion to proceed on a similar bill, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act. The legislation would allow the government to get court orders that would require ISPs, search engines, ad networks, and online payment processors to stop supporting sites with pirated content…

…In May, Google’s Eric Schmidt voiced his concern with the PROTECT IP Act. “If there is a law that requires DNSs … to do X and it’s passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president of the United States and we disagree with it then we would still fight it,” he said at the time…

You may reach your congressman at 202-224-3121.

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