Unified U.S. Site Blocking Bill Targets ISPs and DNS Resolvers But Spares VPNs

Senator Thom Tillis and Rep. Zoe Lofgren have introduced their joint site blocking bill, the DEFEND IP Act. The proposal comes less than two weeks after Rep. Darrell Issa's competing proposal, and both bills allow rightsholders to obtain court orders requiring ISPs and large DNS resolvers to block foreign pirate sites. A crucial difference is that the unified bill explicitly leaves VPN providers out.