Mastercard has told the RIAA and MPAA it will support the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA). RIAA executive vice president of government and industry relations Mitch Glazer praised Mastercard during an interview with CNET. He said the outfit deserves credit [no pun intended] for its proactive approach to addressing rogue Web sites that “dupe consumers.”
Mastercard had reached out to the RIAA and others in the entertainment community to forge what it calls a productive and effective partnership. The RIAA and MPAA have been pressuring private companies, like Mastercard, and government departments to define what is right and wrong according to their direction rather than rely on the courts.
The RIAA and MPAA were widely seen as a big influence behind the US goverment's seizure of several domains last month. The sites are still under government control and according to MyCe the “evidence” of wrongdoing listed in the case’s against the sites is weak. However if the RIAA and MPAA can ask Mastercard to switch off their financial services from a site they don't like, it will make it difficult for the sites to survive. seizure of several domains last month.