Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) says that piracy related domain seizures without due process are a form of censorship, and wants to craft a new bill, with the help of the Reddit community, to give website owners more protection
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) wants Reddit to help her crowdsource a new bill aimed at providing more protection to websites suspected of providing copyright infringing content.
An outspoken critic of "Operation in Our Sites", the DoJ and ICE operation to seize the domain names of websites suspected of distributing copyrighted content illegally, Rep. Lofgren wants to give website owners more protection in the event their website becomes a target of operations like "In Our Sites".
The controversial domain seizing program has already made some high profile mistakes, including the seizure of domain names that turned out to be perfectly legal. There have also been questions asked about the lack of due process involved, with owners often not being served with documents until after weeks and months of legal wrangling.
"Domain seizures without due process are a form of censorship," Lofgren said in a statement made last year.
To correct this oversight, Rep. Lofgren and wants new legislation that will give website owners the chance to defend themselves before any seizure occurs. New legislation that she hopes the Reddit community will help her write.
Reddit is one of the most active communities on the Internet, with millions of users contributing to a vast variety of topics. Reddit was also one of the more influential voices that came out in opposition to the controversial SOPA/PIPA bills.
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