RIAA: Kodak/Apple/RIM patent tangle proves we need Web censorship fast

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says that a proposed alternative to the draconian Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) won't work, and that it has found the patent case to prove it: Kodak's patent claims against Apple and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM). Two days before the new year, the US International Trade Commission announced that the Commission will place the "target date" for review of the case at September 21, 2012.

Aha! declares Mitch Glazier, Senior Executive Vice President for the RIAA, in a blog post. This delay means that the ITC "will have taken 33 months to decide on a high-stakes and time-sensitive issue. So this is the 'expedited' process SOPA opponents are embracing as an alternative in the proposed OPEN bill?" Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) are the principal advocates of OPEN, which moves antipiracy enforcement from the Department of Justice and relevant courts to the ITC. Infringement appeals effectively become trade sanction questions rather than criminal disputes.