Pirate site blocking orders are a step closer to reality in the U.S., after Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act.
If approved, FADPA would allow copyright holders to obtain court orders requiring large Internet service providers (ISPs) and DNS resolvers to block access to pirate sites. The bill would amend existing copyright law to focus specifically on ‘foreign websites’ that are ‘primarily designed’ for copyright infringement.
The inclusion of DNS resolvers is significant. Major tech companies such as Google and Cloudflare offer DNS services internationally, raising the possibility of blocking orders having an effect worldwide. DNS providers with less than $100 million in annual revenue are excluded.
While site blocking is claimed to exist in more than 60 countries, DNS resolvers are typically not included in site blocking laws and regulations. These services have been targeted with blocking requests before but it’s certainly not standard.
Sometimes that works, it depends on how the server is set up. For DNS blocking, you just switch to a different DNS server or run your own DNS resolver.
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If DNS gets blocked, can’t sites still be accessed as long as you know the IP or Socket of the server?
Sometimes that works, it depends on how the server is set up. For DNS blocking, you just switch to a different DNS server or run your own DNS resolver.