SOPA and PIPA Put on Hold

Well, misguided or not, it worked. On “Internet Blackout Day,” Jan. 18, many of the most popular websites went dark or protested the Acts in some other way (Wikipedia shut itself down, while Google stayed on, but posted a large black box over its logo). The demonstration hardly went unnoticed and its impact cannot be understated. At one point Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) tweeted, “Anti- #PIPA, #SOPA traffic has temporarily shut down our website.” And as of this writing, both SOPA and PIPA, which had been scheduled for votes and/or hearings in late January, have been squashed ' at least temporarily, if not for good.

Support Wavers

PIPA had taken a backseat to SOPA due to the much-publicized hearings right before Congress went on its holiday recess. The hearings of the Judiciary Committee drew much attention on Twitter and several live feeds were available. The two-day hearings in December and the hailstorm of Twitter reaction that followed, in addition to letters from prominent Internet architects and experts in opposition to the Act, as noted in last month's update, made SOPA the main target, but with a Senate vote on PIPA approaching, the Bills became synonymous.

PIPA, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) last May, was scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor on Jan. 24, but the Bill, like its House counterpart, began losing support.

In the most telling withdrawals, co-sponsors Marc Rubio (R-FL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) changed their tune on the Bill. Rubio posted on his Facebook page: “I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet.” Grassley, a Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, said in a statement on Jan. 18: “The current Protect IP Act needs more due diligence, analysis, and substantial changes. As it stands right now, I can't support the bill moving forward next week.”

After the protest of Jan. 18, both PIPA and SOPA began losing support in Congress. “I support intellectual property rights, but I oppose SOPA & PIPA. They're misguided bills that will cause more harm than good,” tweeted Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) posted on Facebook that day: “SOPA: better to get this done right rather than fast and wrong. Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about unintended damage to the [I]nternet and innovation in the tech sector require a more thoughtful balance, which will take more time.”

And there were more. According to The New York Times, Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE), Ben Quayle (R-AZ), plus at least 10 Senators and almost 20 House members announced their opposition to either or both of the Bills. (See, “In Fight over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old,” http://nyti.ms/yT5ZKm.) The Times reported that just within the week leading up to the planned Senate vote, PIPA went from five Senators who publicly opposed it to 35.

On Jan. 20, Reid (D-NV) decided to end the controversy, tweeting: “In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act #PIPA.” He later released a statement in which he repeated his Tweet and elaborated:

There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved. Counterfeiting and piracy cost the American economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year, with the movie industry alone supporting over 2.2 million jobs. We must take action to stop these illegal practices. We live in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for a day's work, whether that person is a miner in the high desert of Nevada, an independent band in New York City, or a union worker on the back lots of a California movie studio.

I admire the work that Chairman Leahy has put into this bill. I encourage him to continue engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting Americans' intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation on the [I]nternet. We made good progress through the discussions we've held in recent days, and I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks.

SOPA Put on Hold

SOPA sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) heard the critics too ' and listened. After agreeing in December to hold further hearings on the legislation before proceeding to a vote, and then changing his mind and temporarily scheduling a vote while Congress was out of session for the holiday break (he then cancelled that vote “due to House schedule”), Smith issued a statement on Jan. 20 withdrawing the Bill ' at least for now. “I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” he said. The statement continued:

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.

The problem of online piracy is too big to ignore. American intellectual property industries provide 19 million high-paying jobs and account for more than 60[%] of U.S. exports. The theft of America's intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs. Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack.

The online theft of American intellectual property is no different than the theft of products from a store. It is illegal and the law should be enforced both in the store and online.

The Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America's intellectual property. We welcome input from all organizations and individuals who have an honest difference of opinion about how best to
address this widespread problem. The Committee remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of online piracy that protects American intellectual property and innovation.

Smith concluded by stating that the “House Judiciary Committee will postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

OPEN Act Still Consideration

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who many consider the champion of the anti-SOPA movement (and those who watched the House Judiciary Committee hearings in December would be hard-pressed to disagree), has been pushing his OPEN Act alternative via Twitter and Facebook for months. He took the withdrawal of SOPA and PIPA as an opportunity to push for
his proposal:

Supporters of the Internet deserve credit for pressing advocates of SOPA and PIPA to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation. Over the last two months, the intense popular effort to stop SOPA and PIPA has defeated an effort that once looked unstoppable but lacked a fundamental understanding of how Internet technologies work.

Postponing the Senate vote on PIPA removes the imminent threat to the Internet, but it's not over yet. Copyright infringement remains a serious problem and any solution must be targeted, effective, and consistent with how the Internet works. After inviting all stakeholders to help improve American intellectual property protections, I have introduced the bipartisan OPEN Act with Senator Rob Wyden which can be read and commented on at KeepTheWebOPEN.com. It is clear that Congress needs to have more discussion and education about the workings of the Internet before it moves forward on sweeping legislation to address intellectual property theft on the Internet. I look forward to working with my colleagues and stakeholders to achieve a needed consensus about the way forward.

Republican Nominees Weigh In

During the debate preceding the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, the candidates were asked about SOPA/PIPA. They all came out against it, according to Mashable (see, “Mitt Romney: SOPA Is a Threat to Freedom of Speech,” http://on.mash.to/xkLDKv).

“The idea that we're going to preemptively have the government start censoring the Internet on behalf of giant corporations' economic interests strikes me as exactly the wrong thing to do,” Newt Gingrich said.

Mitt Romney went further, saying the legislation threatened free speech: “The law as written is far too intrusive, far too expansive, far too threatening to freedom of speech and movement of information across the Internet,” Romney said. “It would have a potentially depressing impact on one of the fastest growing industries in America, which is the Internet and all those industries connected to it.”

Ron Paul said he was “the first Republican to sign on with a host of Democrats to oppose this law. This bill is not going to pass but watch out for next one, and I am pleased that the attitude is sort of mellowed up here, because the Republicans unfortunately have been on the wrong side of this issue.”

Rick Santorum said: “The Internet is not a free zone where anybody can do anything they want to do and trample the rights of other people. I agree that this goes too far but the idea that anything goes on the Internet ' where did that come from? Where in American does it say that anything goes? We have laws and we respect the law and the rule of law is an important thing and property rights should be respected.”

Conclusion

So that would appear to be it, at least for now. Chalk the withdrawal of these Bills up to the democratic process at work, where the American people made their voices heard through Twitter feeds and phone calls. Or maybe it has something to do with an upcoming election and the lowest approval rating of Congress in recent memory (see, http://buswk.co/wMsrNP).

Whatever the reason, the piracy issue remains. And the statistics pointed out by Smith are daunting. Apart from those who benefit financially from pirating copyrighted material, most Americans would agree that such material should be protected. But as is apparent from the reaction to SOPA and PIPA, most also agree that rushed legislation without the voice of technical experts is not the answer. And, at least for now, the politicians listened.

It's been quite an eventful month since we reported on the hearings held by the House Judiciary Committee on SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act) (see, “SOPA Update: The House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearings While Opposition Mounts”, in the January 2012 issue, http://bit.ly/x3QdpF).

Fueled by Twitter and Facebook postings, the public became more aware of SOPA and its sibling Senate legislation, PIPA (Protect IP Act) (see, “Companies and Lobbyists on Both Sides of SOPA,” in the December 2011 issue, http://bit.ly/u1PxKZ) and took to e-mail and old-fashioned telephones to let their Congresspersons know how they felt. Whether those who sent messages read the Bills or knew what they really said, the word was out: these Bills would kill the Internet as we know it.

Going Dark in Protest

Well, misguided or not, it worked. On “Internet Blackout Day,” Jan. 18, many of the most popular websites went dark or protested the Acts in some other way (Wikipedia shut itself down, while Google stayed on, but posted a large black box over its logo). The demonstration hardly went unnoticed and its impact cannot be understated. At one point Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) tweeted, “Anti- #PIPA, #SOPA traffic has temporarily shut down our website.” And as of this writing, both SOPA and PIPA, which had been scheduled for votes and/or hearings in late January, have been squashed ' at least temporarily, if not for good.

Support Wavers

PIPA had taken a backseat to SOPA due to the much-publicized hearings right before Congress went on its holiday recess. The hearings of the Judiciary Committee drew much attention on Twitter and several live feeds were available. The two-day hearings in December and the hailstorm of Twitter reaction that followed, in addition to letters from prominent Internet architects and experts in opposition to the Act, as noted in last month's update, made SOPA the main target, but with a Senate vote on PIPA approaching, the Bills became synonymous.

PIPA, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) last May, was scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor on Jan. 24, but the Bill, like its House counterpart, began losing support.

In the most telling withdrawals, co-sponsors Marc Rubio (R-FL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) changed their tune on the Bill. Rubio posted on his Facebook page: “I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet.” Grassley, a Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, said in a statement on Jan. 18: “The current Protect IP Act needs more due diligence, analysis, and substantial changes. As it stands right now, I can't support the bill moving forward next week.”

After the protest of Jan. 18, both PIPA and SOPA began losing support in Congress. “I support intellectual property rights, but I oppose SOPA & PIPA. They're misguided bills that will cause more harm than good,” tweeted Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) posted on Facebook that day: “SOPA: better to get this done right rather than fast and wrong. Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about unintended damage to the [I]nternet and innovation in the tech sector require a more thoughtful balance, which will take more time.”

And there were more. According to The New York Times, Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE), Ben Quayle (R-AZ), plus at least 10 Senators and almost 20 House members announced their opposition to either or both of the Bills. (See, “In Fight over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old,” http://nyti.ms/yT5ZKm.) The Times reported that just within the week leading up to the planned Senate vote, PIPA went from five Senators who publicly opposed it to 35.

On Jan. 20, Reid (D-NV) decided to end the controversy, tweeting: “In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act #PIPA.” He later released a statement in which he repeated his Tweet and elaborated:

There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved. Counterfeiting and piracy cost the American economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year, with the movie industry alone supporting over 2.2 million jobs. We must take action to stop these illegal practices. We live in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for a day's work, whether that person is a miner in the high desert of Nevada, an independent band in New York City, or a union worker on the back lots of a California movie studio.

I admire the work that Chairman Leahy has put into this bill. I encourage him to continue engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting Americans' intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation on the [I]nternet. We made good progress through the discussions we've held in recent days, and I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks.

SOPA Put on Hold

SOPA sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) heard the critics too ' and listened. After agreeing in December to hold further hearings on the legislation before proceeding to a vote, and then changing his mind and temporarily scheduling a vote while Congress was out of session for the holiday break (he then cancelled that vote “due to House schedule”), Smith issued a statement on Jan. 20 withdrawing the Bill ' at least for now. “I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” he said. The statement continued:

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.

The problem of online piracy is too big to ignore. American intellectual property industries provide 19 million high-paying jobs and account for more than 60[%] of U.S. exports. The theft of America's intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs. Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack.

The online theft of American intellectual property is no different than the theft of products from a store. It is illegal and the law should be enforced both in the store and online.

The Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America's intellectual property. We welcome input from all organizations and individuals who have an honest difference of opinion about how best to
address this widespread problem. The Committee remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of online piracy that protects American intellectual property and innovation.

Smith concluded by stating that the “House Judiciary Committee will postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

OPEN Act Still Consideration

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who many consider the champion of the anti-SOPA movement (and those who watched the House Judiciary Committee hearings in December would be hard-pressed to disagree), has been pushing his OPEN Act alternative via Twitter and Facebook for months. He took the withdrawal of SOPA and PIPA as an opportunity to push for
his proposal:

Supporters of the Internet deserve credit for pressing advocates of SOPA and PIPA to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation. Over the last two months, the intense popular effort to stop SOPA and PIPA has defeated an effort that once looked unstoppable but lacked a fundamental understanding of how Internet technologies work.

Postponing the Senate vote on PIPA removes the imminent threat to the Internet, but it's not over yet. Copyright infringement remains a serious problem and any solution must be targeted, effective, and consistent with how the Internet works. After inviting all stakeholders to help improve American intellectual property protections, I have introduced the bipartisan OPEN Act with Senator Rob Wyden which can be read and commented on at KeepTheWebOPEN.com. It is clear that Congress needs to have more discussion and education about the workings of the Internet before it moves forward on sweeping legislation to address intellectual property theft on the Internet. I look forward to working with my colleagues and stakeholders to achieve a needed consensus about the way forward.

Republican Nominees Weigh In

During the debate preceding the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, the candidates were asked about SOPA/PIPA. They all came out against it, according to Mashable (see, “Mitt Romney: SOPA Is a Threat to Freedom of Speech,” http://on.mash.to/xkLDKv).

“The idea that we're going to preemptively have the government start censoring the Internet on behalf of giant corporations' economic interests strikes me as exactly the wrong thing to do,” Newt Gingrich said.

Mitt Romney went further, saying the legislation threatened free speech: “The law as written is far too intrusive, far too expansive, far too threatening to freedom of speech and movement of information across the Internet,” Romney said. “It would have a potentially depressing impact on one of the fastest growing industries in America, which is the Internet and all those industries connected to it.”

Ron Paul said he was “the first Republican to sign on with a host of Democrats to oppose this law. This bill is not going to pass but watch out for next one, and I am pleased that the attitude is sort of mellowed up here, because the Republicans unfortunately have been on the wrong side of this issue.”

Rick Santorum said: “The Internet is not a free zone where anybody can do anything they want to do and trample the rights of other people. I agree that this goes too far but the idea that anything goes on the Internet ' where did that come from? Where in American does it say that anything goes? We have laws and we respect the law and the rule of law is an important thing and property rights should be respected.”

Conclusion

So that would appear to be it, at least for now. Chalk the withdrawal of these Bills up to the democratic process at work, where the American people made their voices heard through Twitter feeds and phone calls. Or maybe it has something to do with an upcoming election and the lowest approval rating of Congress in recent memory (see, http://buswk.co/wMsrNP).

Whatever the reason, the piracy issue remains. And the statistics pointed out by Smith are daunting. Apart from those who benefit financially from pirating copyrighted material, most Americans would agree that such material should be protected. But as is apparent from the reaction to SOPA and PIPA, most also agree that rushed legislation without the voice of technical experts is not the answer. And, at least for now, the politicians listened.