The government was unsuccessful in shutting down such sites, since they are based in other countries and are legally made with consenting adults.

The UK Government attempted (without success) to get US authorities to shut down such sites.

Justin - 1 day 0 hours ago "pending U.S. legislation aimed at shutting down sites that share pirated movies and other content."

But the tech industry fears that, among other things, they will give media companies too much power to shut down sites that they say are abusing copyrights.

If you can't shut down sites that traffic in piracy, might as well block them...

I'm not against shutting down sites that are clearly promoting or profiting from piracy - my concern is, who gets to decide?

Some maintain that anonymity is impossible online, and will be so in the future, as governments can ultimately shut down sites with relative ease in extreme circumstances.

Can't you picture the in-power party trying to shut down sites from the political opposition?

The bill will not shut down sites such as YouTube.

Content owners and the US government would be given the power to request court orders to shut down sites associated with piracy.