The "Big Content" industry wouldn't be able to do this at all if they had to go thru the courts.

It is government control and government regulation that is the perpetrator here.

The ISPs rolled over because they are dependent on government permission to operate. This is defacto censorship. AT&T wants to buy radio stations? Has to get FCC and anti-trust approval. Comcast wants to introduce a new high speed internet service? Once again, they need regulatory approval.

It wasn't "big content" that made the "ICE" and "Homeland Security" shut down offshore poker companies-- companies that, it is worth noting, were perfectly legal under the laws of the jurisdictions where they operated.

The government of the USA is no different from the governments of Libya, Egypt, Jordan, and China in wanting complete control over the internet. Control over the internet is control over information, and thus control over the population.

The only difference is in the USA, they have to pretend like there's some other justification-- copyright infringement, terrorism, drugs, etc. are the go-to excuses.

But they are never the reason.