Külföldi torrent oldalak Internet Piracy Bill Passes Florida Legislature, Goes To Governor!

A bill to combat Internet piracy of music and movies is heading to Gov. Rick Scott for consideration despite opposition from some of the nation’s biggest Internet companies.

Senate Bill 604 passed 78-38 in the Florida House on Friday and had previously passed the Senate 36-3. It requires websites that sell commercial music and movies to post identification and contact information on their sites.

Backers say it’s a consumer protection measure, to help prevent piracy and save consumers from viruses, identity theft and fraud associated with buying pirated material online. They say the bill merely extends to online products the same labelling requirements that apply to physical products, including CDs.

“It’s not regulation of the Internet; it’s not some sort of Big Brother thing,” said Rep. Erik Fresen, arguing for the bill on the House floor Friday.

“It’s a very simple concept,” added Rep. Julio Gonzalez, R-Venice. “It’s proper and appropriate that people who do business in Florida should identify themselves.”

In committee debates about the bill, it was backed by major music and video producers including the Recording Industry Association of America and The Walt Disney Co.

But critics including Google and other search engines and Internet service providers said the bill is an unconstitutional attempt by the state to regulate the Internet, and that the recording and film industries are trying to get states to pass laws they’ve failed to get passed at the federal level.

They said it will undercut the tradition of anonymous comment online and make them vulnerable to being dragged into court to help enforce the law.

“We don’t want to be deputized to police the Internet” by editing search results or taking down noncompliant websites, said Justin Sayfie, a lobbyist representing Google.

On the House floor, Rep. Jamie Grant, D-Tampa, a lawyer interested in high-tech enterprises, said he’s “pretty passionate about a free and open Internet.”

“We’re about to give judges for the first time ever the authority to regulate the Internet,” Grant said.

The bill now goes to Scott’s desk. “The governor will review the legislation when we receive it,” his spokeswoman Jeri Bustamante said.