Anti-Censorship Global Online Freedom Act Nears Vote In Congress

[mandy]

US-based companies could be held liable for helping officials in other countries censor the Internet, if a bill proposed by House Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) is approved...

The Global Online Freedom Act would not only prevent companies like Yahoo from giving up the goods to totalitarian regimes, but would also prohibit US-based Internet companies from blocking online content from US government or government-financed web sites in other countries. When it comes to non-government sites, the Act would require companies to disclose to the newly-created Office of Global Internet Freedom the terms that they do filter, and for the Office to continually monitor these filtered terms.

If the companies violate any of these new restrictions, they could face civil and criminal penalties of up to $2 million, and aggrieved citizens (those who have suffered from the companies' violations, like the Chinese dissidents discussed above) are free to pursue punitive damages and other legal remedies from the offenders...

full article: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...rship.html