The US Copyright Office is floating the idea of mandating a content upload filter on the internet

The US Copyright Office is inviting comments on whether to introduce a requirement applying to online services, that would be under obligation to filter all communications by users accused of copyright infringement.

This is similar to the “upload filter” proposals that were first introduced in the EU and have massive implications for the future of the internet.

If approved, the rule would find its way into a policy known as “Stay Down” – designed to force a service that has received a takedown notice on copyright grounds to take additional steps, making sure the same content doesn’t resurface in the future.

The communication filter element would come into play as one way of ensuring this and would encompass all communication of the accused infringer.