Courts can order internet companies to block foreign piracy websites.
H.R. 10575 — Deterring Extraterritorial Foreign Exploitation of Networks Damaging Intellectual Property (DEFEND IP) Act of 2026 · Filed by Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
Copyright owners can ask federal courts to label foreign websites as piracy sites. Courts can then order U.S. internet providers and DNS services to block them. Internet companies that block in good faith cannot be sued. This is true even if they accidentally block legal websites. The bill does not require proof of actual copyright breaking. It only requires that a site likely breaks copyright law.
Who it affects
Copyright owners like music labels and film studios can block foreign sites faster through courts. Internet providers must follow blocking orders but get legal protection. People in the U.S. may lose access to some websites, including legal ones.
One thing to notice
Internet companies get legal protection even if they block websites that break no law. The bill does not define what counts as reasonable blocking effort.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- piracy sites — Websites that let people copy or share music, movies, or software without permission.
- DNS services — Services that translate website names into computer addresses so people can visit them.
- copyright — The legal right to own and control a creative work like a song, movie, or book.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (22,507 characters) on Oct 1, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Courts can order internet companies to block foreign piracy websites.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10575/simple Report an error
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