Global Innovation Policy Center

Due to various concerns from outside parties, Senator Leahy has proposed an amendment to the legislation that responds to these concerns, while preserving the purpose of the legislation. The amendment will:

• Strike provisions that would have authorized the Justice Department to publish a listing of domain names that provided access to websites dedicated to infringing activities, but against which it did not to seek a court order under the Act, in response to concerns from Internet service providers (ISPs), online companies, and public interest groups.
• Ease the burden on ISPs and payment processors that are required to take action pursuant to this Act. The amendment specifies that an ISP shall not be required to modify its network or facilities to comply with an order or take steps with respect to domain name lookups performed by others. In addition, the amendment requires only that ISPs and payment processors act as expeditiously as reasonable.
• Provide more explicit protection from legal liability for any third-party registrar, registry, ISP, payment processor or advertising network that takes action pursuant to this Act.
• Require the Attorney General to develop a process in consultation with other law enforcement agencies to coordinate related investigations.