American Copyright Protection Act
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Became Law
Introduced; referred to the House Judiciary Committee
Would let copyright owners obtain federal court orders forcing broadband providers, DNS resolvers, and VPN services with 100,000 or more monthly US users to block Americans from reaching any site a court declares a foreign piracy site.
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Reclaim The Net: New US Bill Would Let Courts Order VPNs to Block Websites
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Read the full billOfficial bill recordKey facts
- Where
- United States
- Bill number
- H.R.10364 (119th)
- Status
- Introduced
- Introduced
- September 14, 2026
- Threat
- High
- Last update
- September 21, 2026
Topics
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What it does
Internet service providers, including broadband providers, DNS resolvers, and VPN services, with at least 100,000 monthly US users could be ordered to take “all commercially reasonable steps” to stop their US users from reaching a blocked site. Copyright owners and exclusive licensees start the process by asking a designated federal court to declare a site a “foreign piracy site.” The test covers sites run from abroad or whose operator cannot be found in the US, and covers sites primarily designed for piracy, sites with “only limited commercially significant purpose or use” other than piracy, and sites marketed for piracy. The owner must prove its case by a preponderance of the evidence and make good faith efforts to notify the operator and its domain registrar; the bill does not require the operator to appear. Blocking orders last up to 12 months and can be extended 12 months at a time with no limit on renewals. Owners can add providers and update a site's domains and IP addresses by motion.
What’s at stake
The bill turns the services Americans use to get online, look up websites, and protect their privacy into enforcement points. VPNs are named outright; the DEFEND IP Act exempts VPN-only services. A site can be declared a piracy site while its operator is absent, and courts may issue emergency restraining orders under Rule 65(b), which allows orders without notice, when shortened deadlines are not enough. Blocks aimed at domains and IP addresses can catch lawful sites that share them. A site cut off by mistake, or its users, has to go to court, submit to its jurisdiction, and prove injury to get access back, and compensation is capped at $250,000 and paid only if the copyright owner caused the error. Users cannot hold their provider liable for good-faith blocking, and providers have no duty to tell anyone why a site disappeared.
Our take
A national site-blocking system run through broadband, DNS, and VPN providers is censorship infrastructure, whatever its first target. Once courts can order the network itself to hide destinations from Americans, the list of things they are asked to block will grow. Copyright owners can already sue infringers; this bill gives them a say over what everyone else can reach. Reclaim The Net opposes it.
Timeline
Reclaim The Net: New US Bill Would Let Courts Order VPNs to Block WebsitesLatest
Introduced and referred to the House Judiciary Committee
The record
Sponsor
Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Committee
House Judiciary Committee
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