A misguided copyright enforcement bill in Florida is threatening online anonymity. This week, the state legislature is considering the “True Origins of Digital Goods Act,” which would essentially make it unlawful for a website operator to remain anonymous if her site includes a substantial amount of embedded music or video. Anyone who runs a music blog or features video clips on her website would be required by law to disclose her name, address, and telephone number on the site.
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When it comes to fighting online copyright infringement and counterfeiting, things may have been quiet on the legislative front since SOPA and PIPA went down in flames, but the trend towards voluntary enforcement frameworks continues. Yesterday, a group of major online advertising networks agreed to implement a complaint process modeled loosely on the DMCA’s “notice-and-takedown” regime. (Notice-and-takedown enables copyright holders to send “take down” notices to websites hosting content the rights holders believe is infringing.) The idea of the new framework is to help dry up the flow of ad revenue to online infringement hubs. These advertising network “best practices” now join the ISPs’ Copyright Alert System, the agreement by major payment systems to cut off bad actors, and the best practices statement by national advertisers and advertising agencies, as examples of voluntary, industry-wide plans to take steps against infringement.
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