Public Knowledge, Others Sign Letter Opposing Internet Content Blocking by ITC

Public Knowledge and 27 other groups and legal scholars sent a letter to the International Trade Commission Friday “opposing a recent decision that the Commission has authority to block internet data transmissions,” a Public Knowledge news release said. The decision giving ITC the authority to “block the importation of copyright- and patent-infringing products extends to an ability to block Internet data transmissions into the United States,” the release said. “By declaring that all digital data transfers are subject to the ITC’s purview, the Commission forces every business, small and large, who exchanges data over the Internet to contemplate the possibility of being brought before the ITC,” said Public Knowledge Director-Patent Reform Project Charles Duan. “Our concern was starkly heightened when we learned last December that the MPAA intends to use this ruling to force Internet Service Providers to perform website blocking,” Duan said. The letter “asks the ITC to rethink its position on blocking Internet content,” Duan said. ITC had no immediate comment.