December 17, 2011

Stop Online Piracy Act Delayed, Opponents Declare (Temporary) Victory

http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/stop-online-piracy-act-delayed-opponents-declare-temporary-victory.php


Carl Franzen December 16, 2011, 6:25 PM 161 0

Shortly after the marathon second hearing on the “Stop Online Piracy Act” was adjourned Friday afternoon, opponents of the bill began claiming (temporary) victory.

Popular social news website Reddit, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee and Net Coalition, a group representing leading Web companies including Google, Yahoo and Amazon, all sent out messages welcoming the temporary delay in moving the bill forward.

Now, the House is unlikely to touch SOPA until January 17, 2012, the next calendar date that the House is in session, although it could restart the markup hearing as early as next week, depending on what congressional leadership decides.

“Something could potentially happen next week,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the lawmaker arguably singlehandedly responsible for stopping the SOPA hearing dead in its tracks by convincing the bill’s sponsor and the leader of the hearings, House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), to adjourn the markup hearing and consider holding additional cybersecurity hearings on the bill.

---snip---

Still, with the numerous competing efforts to combat piracy all circulating through Congress in some fashion, 2012 will likely prove to be a decisive year in the government’s regulation of the open Web. Stay tuned.

____________________________________________________________________________

Read the last two sentences above. The article explains how several other bills are still in the pipeline, all designed to crack down on internet free speech.