New US site-blocking bill targets ISPs and DNS resolvers, exempts VPNs
in plain words
Two US lawmakers proposed a law letting movie and music companies get court orders to block pirate websites. Internet providers and big DNS Domain Name System The internet's directory that links domain names to computer addresses. Full definition of DNS services such as Cloudflare could be forced to block these sites, but VPNs, which hide your internet traffic, are left out. A judge would first label a site as piracy-focused, then issue a blocking order that providers must follow.
Senator Thom Tillis and Representative Zoe Lofgren introduced the DEFEND IP Internet Protocol The internet's basic rules for sending data, using numeric addresses for every connected device. Full definition of IP Act, a unified bicameral bill combining Lofgren’s Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act and Tillis’s Block BEARD draft. The Senate version, S. 5529, now sits with the Judiciary Committee, co-sponsored by Senators Chris Coons, Marsha Blackburn and Adam Schiff, with Representative Ben Cline co-leading the House effort.
The bill would let copyright holders seek court orders requiring broadband providers with at least 50,000 subscribers, and public DNS resolver A DNS resolver open for anyone on the internet to use. Full definition of public DNS resolver earning over 100 million dollars annually, to block foreign piracy sites. That revenue threshold would likely cover Cloudflare and Google. VPN providers are explicitly excluded if they “exclusively” offer encryption and traffic-routing services, though the bill does not clarify how that exemption applies to companies offering VPNs alongside other products. resolver The DNS server that looks up domain names on behalf of users. Full definition of resolver only escape the rules if they operate exclusively through encrypted protocols such as DoH DNS over HTTPS DNS lookups carried inside encrypted HTTPS connections. Full definition of DoH, meaning resolvers handling unencrypted queries, including Cloudflare and Google, would still face blocking obligations.
The process follows a two-step model similar to Representative Darrell Issa’s rival ACPA Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act A United States law that lets trademark owners sue cybersquatters. Full definition of ACPA bill: a federal court first designates a site as a “foreign digital piracy site,” with operators given 20 days to respond, though judges can issue ex-parte orders without waiting. Rightsholders can then request a blocking order, which courts must judge for technical feasibility. Orders last a year, are renewable, and can be updated if a site changes domains or IP addresses. The bill also covers live sports and event streams, allowing orders before a broadcast even begins.
Service providers get protections including immunity for good-faith compliance, the ability to seek cost-sharing from rightsholders, and the right to request modification of mistaken blocks. Unlike Issa’s ACPA, the DEFEND IP Act offers no compensation for collateral damage from wrongful blocking.
The bill has backing from more than a dozen organizations, including the MPA, RIAA, Copyright Alliance, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild. MPA chairman Charles Rivkin called it an effective tool against piracy. Public Knowledge, which also opposes the ACPA bill, criticized both proposals as part of a broader push by rightsholders for expanded blocking powers.