Activision, ESA Back Anti-Piracy Website U.S. Bill

A new U.S. bill aimed at websites suspected of illegally distributing copyrighted material now has the support of major video game industry organizations, including Activision and industry trade group, Entertainment Software Association. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) [PDF] aims to restrict the operations of "rogue websites" that are "dedicated to infringing activities" such as distributing pirated games, music and other content, or counterfeited materials, goods or services. The bill says the court could issue a "temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, or an injunction against the domain name" of a rogue site to stop allegedly infringing activity. Activision and the ESA signed a Gamasutra-obtained letter of support yesterday addressed to the bill's co-sponsor, Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy. Other major media companies like Disney, NBC Universal, Newscorp, Time Warner, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America also gave their support. Chanel, 1-800 Pet Meds, Johnson & Johnson and other companies whose goods are susceptible to counterfeiting signed the letter as well. The letter of support reads, "Rogue websites -- many of which are hosted outside of the U.S. -- have become increasingly sophisticated in both design and operation, and often deceive consumers into believing they are legitimate." "These sites not only undermine the growth and stability of many industries and the American jobs that they support, but represent a severe health and safety risk to consumers who unwittingly purchase hazardous products." "We urge you to continue to work with stakeholders to improve the bill and push for its enactment during the time remaining in the 111th Congress," the letter added. The 111th Congress ends January 3, 2011. But there are groups that oppose the bill, such as the digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which said the act could take hosting sites like RapidShare, DropBox and MediaFire offline, even if they're not entirely used for piracy. "Under COICA, the Department of Justice (DOJ) could decide that there is 'too much' piracy on any of these sites and it is therefore 'central to their businesses,' EFF's website reads. And EFF fears that websites that advocate piracy or P2P technology could be silenced by the courts, an outcome that "would be fundamentally contradictory to freedom of speech."