Chairman Leahy preparing amendment to online piracy bill

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said he is preparing a manager’s amendment to the Protect IP Act (S.968) that will take concerns about the bill’s possible effect on Internet service providers under consideration.

Critics of the bill say that PIPA, as the bill is known, forces ISPs to censor the Web when the government seizes a domain name that it has identified as a site primarily dedicated to online piracy. In remarks on Vermont Public Radio, Sen Leahy said he worked closely with ISPs to draft the bill, but is open to looking at the provision again. “I remain confident that the ISPs – including the cable industry, which is the largest association of ISPs – would not support the legislation if its enactment created the problems that opponents of this provision suggest,” Chairman Leahy said, according to a transcript of the interview released by his office. “Nonetheless, this is in fact a highly technical issue, and I am prepared to recommend we give it more study before implementing it.” A cloture vote, which would move the bill to floor debate and allow Chairman Leahy to propose the amendment, is expected when the Senate resumes on Jan 17.