Blocking Bill to Counter Online Piracy * TorrentFreak

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court reversed a billion-dollar piracy liability verdict against Cox Communications, ruling ISPs cannot be held liable for subscriber piracy unless they actively induce infringement or their services lack substantial non-infringing uses, marking a significant win for ISPs but a setback for rightsholders.
• In response, bipartisan efforts in Congress are underway to unify separate site-blocking proposals into a single bill targeting ISPs and large DNS providers, including major tech companies like Google and Cloudflare, to block access to foreign pirate sites.
• The proposed legislation, combining the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA) and the Block BEARD Act, aims for a targeted blocking approach respecting due process and free speech, though no draft has been publicly released and the timeline for introduction remains uncertain.
• Representative Darrell Issa is advancing a separate American Copyright Protection Act (ACPA) with a unique judicial process for piracy cases and provisions addressing overblocking damages, but coordination with the Tillis-Lofgren effort is unclear.
• With Senator Tillis’s term ending in January 2027, there is a pressing deadline to advance legislation, potentially as standalone bills or attached to omnibus spending, as the Cox decision has increased urgency around site-blocking measures for ISPs, DNS providers, and rightsholders.