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Senator Promises to Filibuster Controversial Website Censorship Bill

Senator Promises to Filibuster Controversial Website Censorship Bill

"...threat to our economic future and to our international objectives.”

The Protect IP Act, which is the Senate's version of the House's Stop Online Piracy Act, is ruffling the feathers of Internet entrepreneurs and Internet freedom advocacy groups some Senate members are fighting against it as well.

In fact according to Wired, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has threatened to filibuster the PIPA should it reach the Senate floor for a vote. Wyden has already delayed the bill with a hold, which Wired says is a rarely used Senate rule that blocks a measure from a floor vote, but he fears a vote could be planned for after Thanksgiving to overthrow the hold.

Wyden's spokesperson at StopCensorship.org said Wyden plans to read the names of all citizens opposed to the act. And, in the following video he encourages those opposed to "make sure your concerns are heard":

Wired has more:

When Wyden blocked the bill, he said: “By ceding control of the Internet to corporations through a private right of action, and to government agencies that do not sufficiently understand and value the Internet, PIPA represents a threat to our economic future and to our international objectives.”

The measures also boost the government’s authority to disrupt and shutter websites that hawk or host trademark- and copyright-infringing products, including allowing the government to order sites removed from search engines. They allow the Justice Department to obtain court orders demanding American ISPs to blacklist websites via DNS. That’s a feature even the bill’s main House backer conceded Wednesday was problematic for a host of reasons, including it being a threat to a secure and uniform Internet.

SOPA, the House version of PIPA, had its first hearing last week where the two sides -- those in favor of enacting a law to protect intellectual property and those who fear such a law would be abused leading to Internet censorship -- presented their cases before the Judiciary Committee.

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