Senators are trying to force ISPs to block all foreign pirate sites
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators—including Thom Tillis, Chris Coons, Marsha Blackburn, and Adam Schiff—recently introduced the Block BEARD Act (Block Bad Electronic Art and Recording Distributors Act of 2025). This legislation would empower copyright holders to petition federal courts to declare certain foreign websites as “foreign piracy sites,” enabling courts to order U.S. ISPs to block access to those sites within the United States. Site owners would have the right to contest both the designation and the blocking order.
Critics, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), warn that the law is overly broad and risks collateral damage. For example, blocking could unintentionally impact non-infringing sites sharing the same cloud infrastructure or IP address. They also argue that such measures are easily circumvented—for instance, via VPNs or mirror domains.
Supporters counter that the Block BEARD Act is a necessary tool to safeguard creators and consumers from foreign criminal piracy operations, offering a more measured approach than previous proposals.
