SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and what Millions have been protesting the last several days and weeks, has been pulled by Chief Sponsor of the bill, Lamar Smith. On January 18th, thousands of top websites around the World participated in a blackout where they helped raise awareness about the detrimental effects of the bill as well as PIPA, the Protect IP Act.
While PIPA wasn’t pulled, the vote for it has been delayed. This brings a temporary victory for those who protested and hopefully shows the government and congress that those of us who enjoy the current freedoms of the Internet, mean serious business.
“I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Lamar Smith (R-Texas) told Reuters. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”
While this is great news, there happens to be another concern. Media companies have threatened the withdrawal of funding to politicians who are showing support against the bills. Hopefully they continue to hold their stance and remain against.
“The move comes after widespread protest on the Internet on Wednesday by Wikipedia, Reddit and others. The sites signaled their displeasure with the bill by going dark. That day, several Congressmen dropped their support for SOPA and its Senate counterpart, PIPA. The latter bill has also been taken off the table for now.”
Do you think SOPA will make a comeback very soon?
