Stories about USA from November, 2011
Stop Online Piracy Act: The Fight Continues
A recent hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), companies and organizations that oppose the bill were branded as “pro-pirates.” But civic activists and law professionals have stressed it would give corporations unprecedented power to censor almost any site on the internet, thereby stifling free speech online.
Brazil: Cybercrime Law Could Restrict Fundamental Rights, Internet Openness
Pending in Brazil’s House of Representatives is a proposed cybercrime law that could criminalize many ordinary online activities and that would mark an abrupt shift in Brazil’s progressive digital policy environment. The Committee on Science and Technology will vote on the bill on November 9, 2011.
ICANN: Why the Registrar Accreditation Agreement Matters
Law enforcement demands to domain name registrars were a recurring theme of the 42nd ICANN public meeting, concluded last week in Dakar. This is an important debate because domain names are often tools of individuals' and groups' online speech. Thus they can be a chokepoint for censorship and suppression of speech.
