Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), one of the biggest opponents
of the SOPA/PIPA anti-piracy legislation that got shot down in this Congress,
has introduced legislation to try to keep any variation from returning in the
next one.
He took to social
media site Reddit to discuss the bill, the Internet American Moratorium Act
(IAMA). According to a discussion
draft of the bill, it would "create a two-year moratorium on any new laws,
rules or regulations governing the Internet."
Not only would it prevent anti-online piracy legislation,
but if the courts threw out the FCC's Open Internet order, it would prevent it
from adopting any new regs, since the bill applies not only to legislation, but
to rules and regs as well.
"[N]o Department or Agency of the United States shall
publish new rules or regulations, or finalize or otherwise enforce or give
lawful effect to draft rules or regulations affecting the Internet until a
period of at least 2 years from the enactment of this legislation has
elapsed."
It could also put a damper on cybersecurity legislation,
though he has a carve-out for cyber emergencies: "Upon notification to the
House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Intelligence Committees and Homeland
Security Committees by the President of the United States, or his designee, of
an existential threat to the Internet, the President may, for the purposes of
addressing this threat, allow agencies to promulgate rules that have otherwise
been suspended by this Act," the legislation reads.
Such a sweeping bill has little chance for passage, though
it generated hundreds of Reddit responses, many unprintable.
