A Decade After SOPA/PIPA, It’s Time to Revisit Website Blocking
The core argument against the House and Senate bills known as the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, respectively (SOPA/PIPA), was that blocking piracy websites would undermine the Internet’s technical foundations. But it was a canard. ...
Not all content on the Internet deserves to exist and be protected by law. Many countries have shown it is possible to take reasonable, targeted measures against illegal material without undermining their commitment to “a free and open Internet.”
It is a false binary to suggest the Internet can only be completely free or closed. What matters is what and how some things are blocked, where the lines are drawn, and how they are overseen by courts.
Courts in Australia, the European Union, and elsewhere have demonstrated that website blocking is a fair, effective, and proportionate tool to target major piracy sites and that it does not undermine human rights, free speech, or net neutrality.
