geekosystem

The world of digital law can be a messy place. The Internet is such a new, different medium from anything that has come before it. There are often questions of how laws and rights apply online, and you could argue that a lot of legislation takes advantage of this ambiguity to squash rights and expand power. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) -- whom you may remember as being on the right side of the SOPA fight -- are aiming to put a stop to this with an updated version of a very traditional weapon. Consider it Bill of Rights 2: Digital Boogaloo.

The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act passed unanimously through the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, but fortunately didn't get much further. Oregonian Senator Ron Wyden exercised his power to place a hold on pending legislation to stop the bill from traveling to the senate floor, saying that

Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile.

His hold will prevent the bill passing out of committee this year; proponents of the bill will have to wait until the next time Congress convenes, and then try to reintroduce the measure.