U.S. Site Blocking Bill Adds VPNs to the List of Blocking Intermediaries

The American Copyright Protection Act (H.R. 10364) empowers copyright holders to ask a federal court to declare a website a “foreign piracy site” and obtain blocking orders forcing specific intermediaries to prevent access. The bill explicitly lists broadband ISPs, DNS resolvers and virtual private network providers as covered service providers while excluding root nameserver operators and top-level domain registries. Services with fewer than 100,000 U.S. monthly users are exempt. Providers named in an order must take “commercially reasonable” steps within 14-30 days to stop users accessing the declared site, and courts can shorten deadlines for “time-sensitive” events such as live sports or content that leaks within 24 hours of U.S. release.

The bill leaves key technical questions unresolved for VPNs. “Prevent access from the United States” can be implemented by blocking on U.S. servers only or by blocking any connections originating from U.S. IP addresses regardless of server location, and blocking techniques cannot be prescribed by the court. Courts must consider technical feasibility and efficacy when naming providers, and VPN operators can contest orders, though European precedent suggests such objections have limited effect. Passage is uncertain as the sponsor is retiring and competing site-blocking proposals exist in Congress.