kong
01-22-2012, 02:22 AM
PIPA vote canceled by Sen. Harry Reid
This is what democracy looks like: Following Wednesday’s mass online blackout protest against the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the “PROTECT IP Act” (PIPA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has canceled the January 24 vote on PIPA, first reported in a tweet from Think Progress. The vote postponement comes after 19 senators came out against PIPA, amidst the blackout, seven of whom are former co-sponsors of the bill.
SOPA, which resides in the House, and PIPA are anti-piracy bills aimed at curbing the illegal distribution of copyrighted material by websites that operate outside the US. Opponents say the ambiguous wording of these bills could wreak untold harm on the Internet by stifling legitimate free speech, harming online innovation and the technology startup investment environment, and potentially damage the underlying framework of the Internet by requiring Internet service providers to tamper with the domain name system (DNS).
While the cancellation of the PIPA vote stands as a major victory for the opposition, the bill is not entirely dead, as it will likely come up for a vote later in the year, potentially giving more time for supporters of this bill to sway more senators into their camp. SOPA is also still very much alive, as markup hearings will resume next month.
This story is still developing. We will have more to come as additional information becomes available.
UPDATE: The cancellation of the Jan. 24 PIPA vote has been confirmed by Sen. Reid himself, who posted this tweet to his Twitter account:
In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT IP Act #PIPA
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) January 20, 2012
Sen. Reid followed up this announcement with a tweet assuring voters that “legitimate issues” about “PIPA” can be resolved, and that online piracy costs “1000s of jobs yearly.” In other words, this fight is far from over, for both sides. But it is reassuring to see Sen. Reid admitting that there are legitimate issues with PIPA. This stands in stark contrast to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chief sponsor of SOPA, who has repeatedly dismissed the opposition to that bill as entirely illegitimate, the arguments against it nothing more than a misinformation campaign from the likes of Google and other SOPA/PIPA opponents.
This is what democracy looks like: Following Wednesday’s mass online blackout protest against the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the “PROTECT IP Act” (PIPA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has canceled the January 24 vote on PIPA, first reported in a tweet from Think Progress. The vote postponement comes after 19 senators came out against PIPA, amidst the blackout, seven of whom are former co-sponsors of the bill.
SOPA, which resides in the House, and PIPA are anti-piracy bills aimed at curbing the illegal distribution of copyrighted material by websites that operate outside the US. Opponents say the ambiguous wording of these bills could wreak untold harm on the Internet by stifling legitimate free speech, harming online innovation and the technology startup investment environment, and potentially damage the underlying framework of the Internet by requiring Internet service providers to tamper with the domain name system (DNS).
While the cancellation of the PIPA vote stands as a major victory for the opposition, the bill is not entirely dead, as it will likely come up for a vote later in the year, potentially giving more time for supporters of this bill to sway more senators into their camp. SOPA is also still very much alive, as markup hearings will resume next month.
This story is still developing. We will have more to come as additional information becomes available.
UPDATE: The cancellation of the Jan. 24 PIPA vote has been confirmed by Sen. Reid himself, who posted this tweet to his Twitter account:
In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT IP Act #PIPA
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) January 20, 2012
Sen. Reid followed up this announcement with a tweet assuring voters that “legitimate issues” about “PIPA” can be resolved, and that online piracy costs “1000s of jobs yearly.” In other words, this fight is far from over, for both sides. But it is reassuring to see Sen. Reid admitting that there are legitimate issues with PIPA. This stands in stark contrast to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chief sponsor of SOPA, who has repeatedly dismissed the opposition to that bill as entirely illegitimate, the arguments against it nothing more than a misinformation campaign from the likes of Google and other SOPA/PIPA opponents.