A bill has been introduced in the senate labeled S.3804 known to the public as COICA which stands for Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeiting act. This bill was introduced by Senior Senator of Vermont Patrick Leahy who remained in Senate since 1975. The COICA is a bill that will allow the attorney general and the department of justice to gather domain registrars and registries such as ISPs, DNS providers, and others to block internet users from accessing certain websites.

It bill that will allow the attorney general and the department of justice to gather domain registrars and registries (ISPS, DNS Providers, and others) To block internet users for accessing certain websites. It will also create two lists in which the Attorney general and the department of Justice will have jurisdiction over. In one list there will be a websites selected by the government to appear in a court order, The second list which is in complete control of the attorney general and the department of justice will be a number of sites they deem violates law and without judicial review, the website would be blocked from users trying to access it. The bill will also request and mandate that service providers such as Comcast or Verizon to follow through the lists code of conduct and block all websites appeared on the list indefinitely.  What this means is that if the government or the attorney general/department of justice sees something they disapprove of, they have all rights and means to block it so people trying to access it will not be allowed to.

However, fortunate for us this bill was read twice in senate then passed onto the Committee to be further discussed, during the time the discussion did not end in Cloture so it was postponed to a later day, the following December after the midterm elections. The bill on the other hand in the meantime has gained a lot of support ironically from big fortune companies such as Disney, Nike, Chambers of Commerce and the RIAA. All of these industries and organizations are pushing for this bill to be passed.

Chambers of commerce: a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses.

RIAA: The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a group which represents the recording industry distributors in the United States.

If this bill were to be passed it would mean drastic change in the way the internet has been used and ran since the creation of it. The Government will force internet service providers to block websites who are “accused” of illegal file sharing. Which means a website like Youtube or Dropbox could get censored if companies see an ounce of copyrighted material they could be threatened because all it takes is enough evidence that enough other people are using it for counterfeiting reasons and that would be enough to get the whole site censored.

What the Government is trying to do is set-up system with dealing with counterfeiting and infringement of copyrights, which doesn’t sound bad except the way they’re approaching it. Which will not only not work, it will ruin the entire market and the idea that is the very internet. It will force users to create backdoors to access content and force users to seek alternative methods to explore a once free internet. This bill also violates basic American rights which dictates that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This bill would violate the freedom of speech and of press. by blocking American’s access to the internet.

With this bills expectation to get picked back up we as Americans are facing a serious threat. The high amounts of support this bill is getting, It’s making the outcome of this bill and the future of a free internet look bad and dreadful.

The only thing being done about this to stop this bill from being put into action is the people, the everyday average Joe who uses the internet to explore an unimaginable world of possibilities. Everybody suggests and urges users who want to keep a free internet to contact their senator and present their side of the story to stop senate from passing this bill.

The COICA bill is an obvious violation of our basic rights as an American and