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Internet Freedom Threatened - by Stephen Lendman
Congressional bills threaten Net Neutrality.
Candidate Obama promised to "(s)upport the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet."
As president, his FCC and congressional extremists threaten it. On May 12, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D. MN) introduced "S. 978: A bill to amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes."
Referred to the Judiciary Committee, June 22 hearings were held. So far, no further action was taken. If enacted, loosely defined unlicensed online streaming becomes illegal, punishable by up to five years in prison.
On May 12, Senator Patrick Leahy (D. VT) introduced "S. 968: Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP)." Referred to the Judiciary Committee, May 26 hearings were held. So far, no further action was taken.
Leahy calls it a measure to "protect the investment American companies make in developing brands and creating content and will protect the jobs associated with those investments."
In fact, it introduces new censorship provisions that violate First Amendment freedoms, without which all others are at risk.
If enacted, Internet service providers (ISPs), search engines, and other "information location tools" will have to block user access to sites accused of very loosely defined copyright infringement.
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