S. 3804, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) proposes to target websites that distribute infringing materials by having the Attorney General shut down their domain names (if their registrars or registries are US-based), or by telling US-based ISPs and other online providers not to connect users to accused websites that have foreign-based domain names. While there are a number of websites infringing copyrights and trademarks with domains registered overseas, there are a number of serious problems with the way this bill tries to tackle them. These problems make the bill a danger to innocent and beneficial sites, create potential technical problems, and put it in conflict with the United States' agenda for a single, global, Internet.

For more information, read our two-pager.

Letters from various groups in opposition to COICA

September 27, 2010: Joint Letter Opposing COICA

September 27, 2010: Letter from Educause Opposing COICA

September 28, 2010: Letter from Internet Engineers Opposing COICA

September 28, 2010: Letter from the Association for Computing Machinery Opposing COICA

October 26, 2010: Letter from Human Rights Groups Opposing COICA

November 15, 2010: Letter from Net Coalition Opposing COICA

November 16, 2010: Letter from Law Professors Opposing COICA

Blog posts explaining the problems with COICA

New Copyright Bill Bears Problems: Concerns with S.3804, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), by PK Staff Attorney Sherwin Siy, September 25, 2010.

Others Are Speaking Up About the New Copyright Enforcement Bill—You Can, Too, by PK Staff Attorney Sherwin Siy, September 29, 2010.

COICA and China: Bad U.S. Copyright Policy Makes For Even Worse Chinese Law, by recent Duke Law School graduate Steve McIntyre, October 27, 2010.