It's been in the works for awhile, and IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. I've been saying it on this forum for years.
When it happens, it's going to come with a price tag.
What will happen:
The US government will enact a 'panel' that determines what sites are to be blocked by major ISPs in the United States to reduce piracy and/or other illegal activity.
Sites like rapidshare, hotfile, megaupload, warez forums, torrent sites and maybe even tube sites would be blocked to 98% of internet traffic in the United States. Other governments in other countries could soon follow suit.
However, be careful what you wish for. As with anything regulated by the government, the system will have flaws. Innocent websites could fall victim with little or no recourse, lobbyist could use the law to their advantage.....
Or even worse....
This action could eventually be a frightening step towards restrictions on content, sites and services for other reasons than piracy. Once you give a sanctioning body of government the ability to control access to certain sites, there is no taking it back.
The year after they block pirated sites, they could decide to block access to certain types of content, (piss, scat, girls that look young, rape, BDSM, etc, etc). They could block access to certain services to benefit lobbyist.
In the end, you can't have your cake and eat it too when it comes to handing control over to the government. I believe that goes for everything; whether it's healthcare, banks, private jobs that have become government-sponsored or the internet.