Congress Has Another Site-Blocking Bill, And This One Targets VPNs

The U.S. Congress is planning another attempt at a site-blocking bill, this time targeting virtual private network (VPN) services. Rep. Darrell Issa has introduced the American Copyright Protection Act (ACPA), H.R. 10364, which would give copyright holders a new legal tool to block access to foreign websites accused of copyright infringement for American users.

The bill would allow copyright owners to petition a court to label a foreign website a "foreign piracy site," which could then trigger orders for internet service providers, DNS providers, and VPN providers to prevent their users from accessing these sites. Unlike the previous site-blocking proposal, the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA), ACPA does not exclude VPN services from potential blocking orders.

Moreover, ACPA broadens the definition of a "piracy site" to include sites with "only limited commercially significant purpose or use" beyond infringement. This means even websites with legitimate commercial activities could be labeled as piracy sites and blocked for all American users. While ACPA includes some procedural safeguards, such as requiring service providers to receive legal notice and an opportunity to respond, these measures do not address the fundamental issue of making the initial decision to label a website a "foreign piracy site" without the accused site having a chance to defend itself.