Those bills -- drafted by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, respectively -- are designed to make it easier for copyright holders to take down foreign websites that distribute pirated movies, music and software. Opponents , however, have argued that the legislation will give content owners too much power.
The seven men each face a maximum of 55 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer , on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com .
See more articles by Gregg Keizer .
Read more about drm and legal issues in Computerworld's DRM and Legal Issues Topic Center.
