JIMMY PIRAINO
PRIDE STAFF WRITER

Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), if passed, would allow the Attorney General to target “Internet sites dedicated to infringing activities.” This act would include websites both in and outside the country. This includes any site that has “no demonstrable, commercially significant purpose or use other than unlawful sharing of copyrighted material.”
While there is no debate on whether these sites targeted are indeed acting outside the law, there is concern that the Attorney General’s ability to removed whatever site he deems “inappropriate” would be outside of constitutional bounds.
Opposition to the bill claims it leads the U.S. down a torrid path lined with censorship. After condemning countries such as China for their regular practice of internet censorship, a bill that would allow for similar practices does not seem ideal.
The largest issue with the present bill is that the criteria for examining a site is extremely broad, which gives many legitimate websites a cause for concern.
The site Dropbox.com is one such company that would come under fire should such a bill be passed. Dropbox is an online storage site where users can upload and store files as an alternative to physical storage. But under this new act, Dropbox would be in violation of storing illegal copies of copyrighted material, due to random users uploading and storing the files using Dropbox’s services.
Also at risk are revenues from ad services such as AdSense by Google. The small text ads that appear on the majority of sites now would be banned from advertising on the sites deemed illegal. As ads are Google’s major source of income, the bill could have a drastic effect on the search giant’s revenue stream in the years to come.
While the bill has caused concern for many website admins and Internet users alike, there is little to no chance that it will be passed, or even examined, before the end of the current session of Congress.
The most outspoken critic of the bill is Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who described the COICA as “using a bunker-busting cluster bomb when what you really need is a precision-guided missile.”
The bill’s creation has been met with thunderous applause from the music and film industries, who have been lobbying for stricter control over illegal download of copyrighted material from the government for years.
Whether or not the bill passes, its inception marks a change in the relationship between government and the internet. It marks the beginning of a new era of potential censorship and regulation for a media outlet that has been largely unregulated until now.