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The bill speeds and funds court-ordered blocking of foreign live-event piracy and shields implementers while requiring limits to reduce collateral harm, but it grants broad, sometimes ex parte, authority that risks overbroad site-blocking, due-process/extraterritorial conflicts, privacy exposures, and added costs for providers and users.
Copyright owners and exclusive licensees: can get expedited court orders to block foreign websites that stream infringing live events and can have service providers recover reasonable marginal costs from petitioners, helping protect event revenue and offsetting immediate implementation expenses.
Internet service providers and DNS operators: are shielded from liability for harms that arise from complying with a court-ordered blocking measure, reducing legal risk for companies and their employees tasked with implementation.
Users and privacy-tool providers: blocking orders must minimize collateral harm by prohibiting measures that block non-infringing material and by barring VPN-blocking, helping preserve lawful access and common privacy tools.
Internet users, site operators, and small online businesses: ex parte orders for imminent live-event transmissions can lead to mistaken or overbroad blocks of foreign sites before operators have a chance to contest claims, risking wrongful disruption of access and commerce.
Foreign websites/operators and immigrants: U.S. courts can be empowered to compel nationwide interference with access to foreign-operated sites, raising due-process and extraterritoriality concerns for non‑U.S. operators and their users.
ISPs, DNS providers, and their customers: new operational requirements to implement blocking orders may increase provider costs and complexity, which could be passed on to subscribers or taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Gives federal courts authority to issue nationwide orders blocking access to specified foreign websites or online services that facilitate copyright infringement.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Zoe Lofgren · Last progress January 28, 2025
Authorizes federal courts to issue nationwide “blocking orders” that require disabling access to specifically identified foreign websites or online services that facilitate copyright infringement. It sets procedures for seeking preliminary relief, evidence and notice requirements, identification of the foreign site or service, attempted service on the operator, and notice to U.S. service providers, and creates a new statutory remedy in the Copyright Act. The measure creates a process for a covered rightsholder to petition a district court, requires certain certifications about the foreign operator and the site’s primary purpose, gives the operator 30 days to appear, allows the court to use a Rule 53 master for fact-finding if the operator does not appear, and contemplates enforcement steps against U.S.-based intermediaries to block access to the identified foreign source of infringement.