On Jan. 16, a significant change occurred in the fight regarding SOPA. With threats of multiple black outs and an official statement from the White House sharing concern over the bill’s wording, SOPA appeared dead in the water. In fact, the vote that was supposed to occur that Wednesday was cancelled.
That very Tuesday, however, what appeared to be the end of the legal struggle was halted abruptly by SOPA supporter and Texas Representative Lamar Smith, who claimed the bill would push forward in February. The general attitude of anti-SOPA protesters soured.
Jan. 18 saw what is being described as a first in history: a massive string of protests against SOPA. Multiple websites, including but not limited to Wikipedia, Wired and Reddit, had blackouts in protest of SOPA, calling upon their user base to contact their Congressmen and demand that SOPA be opposed.
Wikipedia itself reported that on the day of the blackout, “more than eight million looked up their elected representatives’ contact information via the Wikipedia tool.” It furthermore thanked its user base for joining the fight against internet censorship, but warned that both PIPA and SOPA are far from done.
There was also protest on the ground. Demand Progress, a political activist group that has been a leader in the fight against SOPA, PIPA and related legislation, touted a crowd of 2,500 supporters that protested directly outside of New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s office. In the email sharing the news, the team states the protest, “closed down half of Third Avenue.”
Additionally, Fight for the Future, another such online organization, spoke of other protests in New York City and San Francisco that had similar results. They also mentioned how the sheer volume of protesters attempting to contact their congressmen caused multiple websites to shut down.
Perhaps most telling on the protest’s effects are the number of reported Senators supporting SOPA’s Senate companion, PIPA. Before Jan. 18, the Protect IP Act had five Senators opposing it. According to Fight for the Future, that number has now jumped to 35, coming in only six votes short of a the bill being stalled.
To add to this, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, Senate majority leader Harry Reid postponed the Tuesday vote for PIPA. This, on top of minority leader Mitch McConnel’s statement earlier in the week that it is not yet time to consider the bill, point towards the downfall of PIPA. Chicago Sun-Times reported that the current situation made it “appear[ed] supporters now lack[ed] the 60 votes needed to advance the measure.”
A final harmful blow came in the revelation that SOPA supporter Representative Smith himself is a violator of copyright. According to Andrew Bloch at The Village Voice, the Representative uses a photograph as the background of his campaign website without crediting the photographer. As the photo is under Creative Commons, the lack of credit is a copyright violation.
Sophomore biology and chemistry double major Srikanth Dasari shared his thoughts on the matter, stating, “I find it immensely ironic…It is a reflection of the ease of which such things can happen. It is a reflection of the problems that can arise if SOPA and PIPA are passed.”
Even with all this fire coming down on the two bills, the future is still uncertain. SOPA was officially shelved Jan. 20 by Smith, though it is most certainly not dead. While Smith agreed to shelve the bill until more support and agreement has been reached, the official release shows he still firmly believes in the bill. In the release, Smith stated, “The Committee remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of online piracy that protects American intellectual property and innovation.”
Meanwhile, PIPA seems dead in the water to most observers, but major PIPA opponent Senator Ron Wyden was quoted by Politico, warning, “Senators in the past have often said they’re against the bill…and then they vote for the motion to proceed to the start of the debate.” Similar concerns are echoed by multiple online agencies: both Demand Progress and Fight have continued sending out emails to organize protests while sites like Wikipedia have posted follow ups asking for continued action.
Also hinting toward a continuation of the SOPA battle was the closure of file-sharing site Megaupload.com and arrest of site founder Kim Dotcom and six employees. ABC News reports that the federal indictment claims the arrested employees are all members of, “the Mega Conspiracy, a worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement…”
In any case, the fight over anti-piracy and internet censorship is for a time stalled. With protesters claiming victory and politicians reworking the bills, it is unlikely this is anything more than a ceasefire between the two sides while the next wave of bills are written.
