SOPA Backers Lose Ground

Protests against anti-piracy bills convince some lawmakers to drop support for the legislation.

The campaign against the Houses Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senates PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) appears to have been heard--at least by many members of Congress whod previously stood behind the proposed laws.
Numerous websites--including Wikipedia--
went dark
Wednesday, in what supporters dubbed the largest online protest in history. Googles site, meanwhile, blacked out its name and offered links to
more information about SOPA and PIPA
, which the company said threatened to censor the Web and impose burdensome regulations on American businesses. Google also posted an
online petition
against SOPA and PIPA. By 4:30 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, Google said 4.5 million people had signed its petition.
By the end of Wednesday, 18 senators whod
supported PIPA
--including seven co-sponsors of the bill--had dropped their support. By
OpenCongress count
, that means that 33 senators still openly support PIPA, while 23 are now on record as opposing the bill, and another 13 said theyre leaning against it. But the backers of both bills have already dropped certain provisions, such as PIPAs requirement that websites must filter DNS to
block rogue websites
.
[ Is piracy more of an IT problem or a business problem? Learn why
Piracy Equals Market Failure
. ]
The two bills, which are largely identical, would empower the Department of Justice to cut off funding for foreign websites accused of hosting pirated movies or music, and block anyone inside the United States from visiting those sites by requiring search engines, payments processors, service providers, and advertising networks to comply with Justice Department takedown or finance-blocking orders.
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a PIPA co-sponsor, Wednesday explained why he was dropping support for PIPA in its current form. After listening to the concerns on both sides of the debate over the PROTECT IP Act, it is simply not ready for prime time and both sides must continue working together to find a better path forward, he said in a statement. Given the legitimate vocal concerns, it is imperative that we take a step back to allow everyone to come together and find a reasonable solution. Hatch last week had joined five other Republican senators who wrote to ask Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to delay the vote on PIPA thats still scheduled for January 24.
Likewise, House Judiciary committee chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), SOPAs chief sponsor, said Tuesday that he still expects to
bring that bill before the committee
in February for debate.
Smith reiterated his support for SOPA Wednesday. Contrary to critics claims, SOPA does not censor the Internet. It only targets activity that is already illegal, and only targets foreign websites that steal and sell Americas technology, inventions, and products. And it is similar to laws that already govern websites based in the U.S., he said in a statement. But he added that he was open to constructive suggestions that protect American inventors and intellectual property rights holders.
Not all SOPA and PIPA media campaigns Wednesday criticized the anti-piracy bills. For example, advertisements from Creative America, a pro-Hollywood advocacy group, appeared Wednesday online and on a billboard in New Yorks Times Square. The advertisement began: What to do during an Internet blackout and suggested the public read books, watch movies, or listen to music,
reported
the
Wall Street Journal
.
In addition, said the
Journal
, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said it plans to launch an advertising campaign soon to counter misconceptions about both bills. But the MPAAs chief, former Senator Christopher Dodd, finds himself in an awkward position, as hes legally barred from lobbying Congress or making any public statements about legislation for two years after leaving office.
More than 700 IT pros gave us an earful on database licensing, performance, NoSQL, and more. That story and more--including a look at transitioning to Win 8--in the new all-digital
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SOPA Backers Lose Ground