Congress Should Amend COICA

Last week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to approve the "Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act" (COICA). The bill would allow the U.S. Attorney General to obtain a court order disabling web domains deemed to be “dedicated to infringing activities.”

Intellectual property scholars at the Competitive Enterprise Institute praised the bill in principle but warned that the legislation's current provisions threaten free speech and lack crucial safeguards to protect against the unwarranted suspension of Internet domain names.

“Combating piracy and counterfeiting on the Internet should be a priority for Congress, but care should be taken to ensure that legislative attempts to protect intellectual property rights do not harm other vital interests,” said Ryan Radia, CEI Associate Director of Technology Studies. “COICA’s overbroad definition of Internet sites 'dedicated to infringing activities' risks ensnaring legitimate websites. The bill also lacks a provision ensuring that Internet site operators targeted by the Attorney General have an opportunity to defend their site in an adversary judicial proceeding."

Over three dozen law professors recently submitted a letter to the U.S. Senate raising concerns about COICA, arguing that the bill suffers from “egregious Constitutional infirmities.”

“In its current form, elements of COICA raise serious First Amendment concerns,” said Hans Bader, CEI Senior Attorney. “If enacted, the law will not likely survive a constitutional challenge.”

Radia argued that Congress should amend COICA to provide for more robust safeguards, including:

• Providing a meaningful opportunity for Internet site operators to challenge before a federal court an Attorney General’s assertion that their site is “dedicated to infringing activities” prior to the domain name's suspension;

• Requiring that the Attorney General, prior to commencing an in rem action against a domain name, make a reasonable attempt to notify the site’s actual operator;

• Clarifying the definition of an Internet site “dedicated to infringing activities” to ensure that Internet sites with cultural, artistic, political, scientific, or commercial value that facilitate infringing acts by third parties do not face domain name suspension if their operators comply with legitimate takedown requests;

• Instructing the Department of Justice and federal prosecutors not to request that domain name registrars, registries, or service providers suspend domain names that have not been deemed to be “dedicated to infringing activities” by a federal court;

• Requiring the Department of Justice to compensate domain name registrars, registries, and service providers for any reasonable costs they incur in the course of disabling infringing domain names.

What do you think?

Mobile Commerce Trends

By Mark Brousseau

Some interesting facts from the pre-conference workshop at the Third Annual Mobile Commerce Summit at the M Resort Casino & Spa in Las Vegas on Wednesday:

… Banks that think they are going to fund their mobile initiatives through advertising had better think again, according to Bob Gilbreath, chief marketing strategist, Bridge Worldwide, an interactive and relationship marketing agency. “Mobile ad interruption will not be tolerated,” Gilbreath said, noting that 72 percent of Americans have registered on the Federal Do Not Call list. What’s more, service providers fear losing $50 per month customers in exchange for pennies per ad unit, he said.

… Smartphone users spend less than 5 minutes online per session, Gilbreath said.

… People who write down how they will use a new product are 50 percent more like to use it, according to a study by Proctor and Gamble.

… Young consumers are spending less time in traditional “online” environments, Gilbreath said.

… The Berg Institute says there were 3.1 million mobile banking households in the United States last year – up from 400,000 households in 2007. The Berg Institute estimates there will be 7 million mobile banking households by the end of 2009.

… 50 percent of all calls to bank customer service centers are from mobile phones, and will rise to 70 percent in 2010, according to Celent. Many calls are simple balance requests, Celent notes.

… As of January, 2009, Bank of America had 1.9 million mobile banking users – up from 1 million users in June, 2008. On peak days, Bank of America has 100,000 mobile banking users.

… Only 40 percent of a retail bank’s customers are profitable, finds the Council on Financial Competition.

What do you think? Post your comments below.