Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) of 2011, H.R. 3261, introduced in the House on October 26, 2011 (postponed)

(1) This Bill was introduced to provide new tools to enforce online copyright infringment. These measures applied to "foreign infinging sites". This definition includes (i) U.S.-directed sites used by users in the United States; (ii) whose owners or operators are committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations; and (iii) which would be subject to seizure in the United States in an action brought by the Attorney General if such site were a domestic Internet site.

(2) The most relevant enforcement tools included (i) the requesting of court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the websites (ii) the requesting of court orders barring search engines from linking to the infringing websites, (iii) court orders barring advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and (iv) expansion of existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

(3) After a wave of protests, culminated in the Internet Blackout on January 18, 2012, the House Judiciary Committee postponed consideration of the bill. See also SOPA & PIPA EFF page