SOPA Shelved Until "Consensus" Found

The drive to stop the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) seems to be working. On Saturday, the Obama administration criticized SOPA for potentially ”disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet.” Now, The Hill reports that the controversial bill has been shelved. While SOPA was intended to go after websites that illegally offer copies of music, movies and TV shows, technology giants like Google, Facebook and Reddit have argued that the legislation will curtail innovation and freedom on the internet and mounted a huge campaign against it.

On Saturday morning, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said that Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had promised him that the House will not vote on SOPA until “consensus” can be built:

“While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House. Majority Leader Cantor has assured me that we will continue to work to address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote.”

Shortly before Issa’s announcement, the sponsor of SOPA, Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), had said he would remove a provision requiring that Internet service providers block access to overseas websites accused of piracy, a major concession to SOPA opponents.

A former chair of the Consumer Electronics Association, Issa — a critic of the bill — had scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday to examine the “potential consequences of the bill’s site-blocking provision.” In his statement Saturday, Issa said he would cancel the hearing, following Smith’s decision.

The shift in what had been broad bipartisan support for the two pieces of legislation is indeed a “shift in momentum” and even a “victory for internet freedom.”

The “focus of protecting the Internet” now needs to be on the Senate, Issa said, noting that Majority Leader Harry Reid has “announced his intention to try to move similar legislation in less than two weeks.” On Thursday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the sponsor of the Senate bill, Protect IP Act (PIPA), had said he was open to changes about the site-blocking provision — now, perhaps even more changes (including shelving PIPA too?) may follow.

Related Care2 Coverage

Obama Administration Speaks Out Against SOPA

Reddit Plans Anti-SOPA Blackout; Wikipedia May Join

Open Access Under Threat: HR 3699

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Eternal G.

5:01PM PST on Feb 6, 2012

Noted.

February 6
send a green star

Loretta D.

10:04PM PST on Jan 28, 2012

Carolina A: My thoughts EXACTLY.

January 28
send a green star

Carolina A.

1:33PM PST on Jan 20, 2012

This is scary... It reminds me of Orwells` 1984 and the Big Brother. This is a way of controlling US not content. Lots of knowledge will no longer be available to people, not only people who can´t afford it but how many books are no longer available and the only chance you have to read them is online. I don´t want anybody messing with my computer, I want my freedom and my privacy. And what really pisses me off it´s the fact that they move fast and localize those who infringe copyright, but when there´s a pedophile or an animal abuser, they are never able to trace the IP, the serves must protect their privecy but if we download a cd we are demanded. Come on! Give up the cheap excuses, they don´t give a damn on copyright, they want to spy and control us.