The Internet Wins: PIPA & SOPA Delayed

from the there-we-go dept

Fri, Jan 20th 2012 8:34am — Mike Masnick

The writing has been on the wall for a long, long time, but now it's finally official. Harry Reid has announced that he will not move forward with PIPA and Lamar Smith has announced the same thing about SOPA. Both are listed as "delayed" and there's always a chance that they will come back in some form (potentially even nastier), but hopefully those on Capitol Hill have learned a big lesson about trying to mess with the internet... and what happens when you cut backroom deals to help one industry at the expense of the public.

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Filed Under: blackouts, internet, lamar smith, patrick leahy, pipa, protect ip, protests, sopa

105 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:40am

"there's always a chance that they will come back in some form (potentially even nastier)"

More like a certainty.
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TDR, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:40am

Not quite a FATALITY but I'll take it nonetheless. In the words of the MK announcer, "Excellent!"
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KingFisher, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:40am

As the first person to leave a comment I'm going to say this is a great victory. But there still needs to have more be done. We need to shut up the entertainment industry for another good 10 years no how about 20 years.
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Rachel @ Last Res0rt, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:40am

I'll hold off for now.
Let me see it stay dead for a week before I celebrate.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:41am

We may have won the battle, but the war is still on. Keep vigilant young soldiers for the next battle in on the horizon.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:41am

We won just a battle. The war is far from over.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:42am

Well done Mike. Don't think we don't recognize that you were posting about this bill's atrocities from the very beginning.
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el_segfaulto (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:42am

Re:
Remember the NDAA. Some scumbag politician (redundant, I know) will simply add it as a rider to a bill that won't be voted down. Something to do with the military, methinks.
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SomeGuy, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:42am

Where do we go from here?
OK, we won. The adrenaline dies down and life returns to normal.

So how do we stay vigilant and make sure these bills don't return, or that someone doesn't add four words into some other bill that sneaks this through?
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KingFisher, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:42am

Was too slow
Oh well i was third. But anyways how about we, the internet expose the entertainment industry's little scam ofthem being the ones to distribute the pirating software and DMA remover software. Piracy was a ploy set up by the entertainment industries to screw over their own artists and the common man so the executives could line their pockets with gold. There is tons of evidence all over the web. Shove that in the face of a federal judge and the entertainment industry will haev a lot to answer for.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:43am

There's still ACTA and "The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011" to consider.
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Rick Falkvinge (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:45am

Thank you, Mike.
While it takes millions of people acting, and millions of people indeed did act on this, it always takes one or a few heroic anchors for a cause to keep the flame burning. A person that keeps analyzing, posting, informing, coordinating.

While many other assist and help out, in hindsight, you can usually say that "this person was key".

Thank you, Mike.
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Donnicton, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:46am

Re: Re:
More likely some "for the children" bill. Who wants to be the one to vote against children?
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The Logician (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:47am

A relevant quotation applies here, I believe, in the wake of what has happened. I do not recall the source, but if anyone knows of it, feel free to supply it. It goes as follows:

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

We must not relax or let down our guard. To do so would be futile and would undermine our efforts.
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E. Zachary Knight (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:57am

hopefully those on Capitol Hill have learned a big lesson about trying to mess with the internet... and what happens when you cut backroom deals to help one industry at the expense of the public.

Sadly, I find that thought a little too optimistic for government. Crony Capitalism is still alive and well in Washington and state and local governments. While we have been able to throw a monkey wrench into the works of this particular incarnation of crony capitalism, there are still thousands of more incarnations currently in effect and seeking to become law.

As a whole, we need to be more vigilant on all fronts and fight crony capitalism in all its incarnations. Whether it is a law that protects incumbent taxi cab companies, interior designers, florists, funeral homes, or whatever else might be seeking unfair protectionist measures against competition.

So keep up the good fight and defend liberty for all people.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 8:59am

Meh. I ll celebrate when H.R. 1981: Protect Children from Internet Pornographers Act passes without SOPA like amendments added to it.
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Dustin (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:00am

I give it a week... maybe two... and we'll see their incarnations.

Right now somewhere in Washington some high class escort or young secretary paid and bought by the MAFIAA is on her knees in some Senators office earning a very special favor.

Meanwhile down the hall some nameless person dressed in black is quietly explaining to a separate Senator why a YES VOTE for PIPA and SOPA would be beneficial to his family.
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Jay (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:01am

Re:
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

The man who did not like copyright.

The one that thought that you can't patent an idea.

The man of the hour, and a true founding Father:

Thomas Jefferson
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Dustin (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:02am

Re:
That's a new bill to me. What's wrong with it?
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Violated (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:03am

Trickery
To be honest here then this delay does much worry me.

This to me only reads like they want to delay now so that the public heat cools down. Then it is only wait until the one key day when the public are distracted to slip it into law while everyone is left thinking "WTF just happened there?"

So this turns one decisive vote and quick resolution into the vast job of having to closely watch them for weeks or months to see if PIPA and SOPA start to move.

Please just kill them.
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Kevin Stapp (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:04am

Dead in the current form
There is little doubt these ideas will resurrect in future legislation but Congress is now forced to hear from all stakeholders - especially consumers. Sham one sided hearings won't pass muster the next time around.

I believe the future debate must shift from 'internet regulation' to true IP reform. Congress needs to understand that copyright designed in the analog world doesn't translate to the digital world. You can't create artificial scarcity in a world that creates supply exactly equal to demand.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:07am

They'll be back, they'll just wait until people forget about it and try and push it through secretly tacked onto something else. Kind of like how they pushed through the ability to hold US citizens indefinitely without trial via a military budget.
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Nastybutler77 (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:07am

Re:
"As the third person to leave a comment..."

Fixed that for ya.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:12am

SOPA and PIPA were both unnecessary from the start. Just look at Poor megaupload, Neither bill was needed to destroy that site.
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Violated (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:12am

Re:
"The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011"

As the Internet already successfully deals with this topic in self-censorship then this is clearly some nasty idea hidden under a "protect the children" concept.

"No UN inspector this is not a nuclear warhead but a flying paedophile killer! We must all work hard to protect the children"
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:13am

On the other hand, this gives tech companies time to start upping their lobbying.
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ervserver (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:14am

re
it will get shoved through attached to some other bill...congress owes Hollywood
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:14am

Re:
You know how you prevent that? The same way you solve every problem permanently, you get to the source. It's the MPAA and RIAA that pushed this, they need to learn that we won't take this crap. They need to be shown that we are strong.

#StarveTheBeast
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gorehound (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:18am

Re:
I am ready.
Created Facebook group called Boycott Big Content
Coded my main domain of bigmeathammer to mirror the Anonymous Videos
Coded Anti Censorship Rant into the home page
Telling all my friends and family
#Will continue to post on Newspaper sites,etc.
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Leonidas, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:20am

You mean, after all that has been said and done (more said) in opposition to these bills, Lamar finally admits he can hear us?
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Chosen Reject (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:20am

Re: Re:
I haven't seen the bill so I can't speak to that, but the fear is that either SOPA or SOPA-like amendments will be added to it and no one will want to be seen as not protecting the children, so they'll pass it.
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Beta (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:21am

follow through, or it's all for nothing
"...hopefully those on Capitol Hill have learned a big lesson about trying to mess with the internet... and what happens when you cut backroom deals to help one industry at the expense of the public."

What does happen? You get delayed by a few months?

They haven't learned their lesson yet, not while Reid, Smith and the rest of the pro-SOPA/PIPA gang are still in office. If we don't want these Acts to come back in a few months, we must follow through. Reid and Smith must never win another election, and the corporate backers should suffer for years. Ideally, all politicians who voiced strong support for these Acts should lose their next elections, and I'd like to cull the late-changers and fence-sitters too. And if I could have three wishes, there'd be a boycott waiting for whoever hires Reid or Smith when they leave Congress.
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mike allen (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:22am

Like Chronno S. Trigger said we need to destroy the source that's the only way to win the war.
Thanks to mike and the techdirt team for their coverage on this.
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Chosen Reject (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:23am

Re: Trickery
I'm in agreement here. Honestly I don't see any reason to rejoice until legislation that seriously reforms copyright law is passed and signed. Only then can we rest knowing it will at least be a couple of years before the ratcheting up comes back.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:25am

The trolls have gone awfully quiet of late?
What happend to all the: 'you'll never beat SOPA/PIPA'. Not that we have, but at least stopped it in its tracks for the time being.
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Bryan James, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:31am

This isn't a victory, more like extra innings.

That said, I don't believe that this legislation was meant to pass in it's current form. It was meant to get us worked up so they can come back with a compromise that will look good by comparison but if initially proposed would be called draconian.
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ipgrunt (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:31am

Vigilance
Today, we've witnessed a victory of democracy -- the voice of the people has been heard and acknowledged.

This bill has been tabled, but it will raise its ugly hydra-headed attack on the Constitution in the future.

Be vigilant.
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Pjerky (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:32am

Its not over yet...
I won't consider it over until these bills aren't just shelved but abandoned entirely. I am concerned that the people behind them will just wait until the fervor against them has died down and then just reintroduce them under the same or a different name.
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Noah Callaway, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:34am

Mike + Wyden
I just want to raise a quick toast to a couple of the many heroes of the Battle of SOPA: Mike, and Senator Ron Wyden.

Without the two of them, I'm thoroughly convinced PIPA would already have been passed, and SOPA would be well on its way.

To be sure, there were many other people who were necessary in this fight. But I just wanted give those two some quick praise.

Thanks, guys.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:34am

Re: Re:
Links?
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Pjerky (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:35am

Re:
I would rather shut them up permanently. They go too far and are obviously too slow to adapt to ever listen to. The only reason the industry has survived for so long in its current form is that up until recently people really didn't have much of a choice in sources of video and music entertainment.
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VMax, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:36am

Re:
Off topic, but please change your pic. Leonard Nemoy is reading your posts in my head. I can't afford his voice-over fees.
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Pjerky (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:37am

Re: Where do we go from here?
Amen to that brother. We can't become complacent now. We have to make sure that Washington knows to never do this again. The fight isn't over until the beast is broken and dead.
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VideoSavant, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:37am

Are You Kidding?
I am pleased that both of these bills have been derailed, but I could not let this sentence pass without comment:
______________________________________

...but hopefully those on Capitol Hill have learned a big lesson about trying to mess with the internet... and what happens when you cut backroom deals to help one industry at the expense of the public.
______________________________________

Now, maybe you're correct about messing with the Internet, though I think you spectacularly underestimate the appetite of politicians for control of everything, but particularly control of information.

But on the second point (cutting backroom deals favoring one industry over others and the public) this is a fantastically ludicrous statement. THIS is what Congress does and this is what greases the wheels of politics in America. Were you dead asleep when the Obamacare legislation was rammed through Congress? And that is only one, admittedly highly conspicuous, example.

Just saying that when someone makes naive statements like the one I've quoted above, it makes it difficult to take anything else you write or say seriously.
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Aaron *Head* Moss (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:38am

Re: Re:
A Damn Dirty Pirate... even back in the day.
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Pjerky (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:39am

Re:
I inherently distrust any law that quickly cites "protecting children". That is a very strong indication that something nasty is trying to slip through. Hell I wouldn't put it past them to create a "protect the children" bill that actually encourages the violation of children.

We just can't trust our government anymore. Too much corruption. Too much greed. Too much ignorance and stupidity.
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Aaron *Head* Moss (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:40am

Re:
Not famaliar with this bill (so I could be talking out my arse), but do we really need another law regarding this?

Don't our current laws do enough?
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Pjerky (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:41am

Re: Thank you, Mike.
Mike definitely deserves some major kudos and accolades for his vigilant fight against these bills. He used his position to spread information and awareness and for that we should be forever grateful.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:43am

Re: The trolls have gone awfully quiet of late?
Geez. I now realize why they went quiet. Thanks in part to your comment. They were saying things like "it's just a minority", "it's just pirates", wre wre wre "this'll fly through", "you all will need crying towels for when this passes", etc etc etc. Then bam!

The people and the internet got organized and made their voices heard. Then came the statements from various representatives reconsidering their positions.

So the trolls were pretty much wrong about everything they were saying leading up to things. They can't come back and troll right away, cause we'll throw their own words/stupidity in their faces.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:43am

> Harry Reid has announced that he will not move forward with PIPA and Lamar Smith has announced the same thing about SOPA.

And you guys believe them?

Do we really believe they will not say one thing and do another?

I will believe both have been delayed when their voting date has passed. Until them, we have to keep the heat up, or increase it even more to make sure they will not go up for a vote.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:51am

Yes they will be back and the only way to make it crystal clear that it won't be tolerated is to attack the root.

End copyright and it ends the threat to democracy at least for the next 10 years.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:59am

Re: Thank you, Mike.
Thank you, Mike.
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cjstg (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:08am

Re: I'll hold off for now.
this thing will never die. as long as there are people who make money from copyright those rights will be consolidated into associations and unions until there is enough money to pay for lobbyists. those lobbyists will work to further the interests of the people paying them.

the other side of this is the tech companies. once they get a taste of lobbying, it is going to be hard to stop them. google and facebook will start to understand that certain laws that limit them (and their revenues) need to go away. smaller competitors start to feel squeezed by new laws and so on.

the problem here is the process by which our laws are created. our legislators are just regular guys (with really big egos, granted) who want to do the right thing. but when the people they talk to have something to sell and they couch it in terms of "for the children" and prop it up with campaign contributions, these voices drown out the rest of us. it isn't until we get really pissed off and shove it down their throats like we did on wednesday do they really take notice.

now everyone will go back lick their wounds and strategize this all over again. the associations will reassess and consult with the lobbyists. the lobbyists will figure out how to rephrase this to our legislators so that is sounds good again. and the whole thing starts all over. this will never die until our culture changes to a degree where these people become irrelevant a la the buggy whip makers association.
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ASTROBOI, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:19am

Seen this before.....
This issue brings to mind a problem I've seen more than once; getting unpopular levies passed. When an unpopular school levy is proposed it sometimes is defeated because the voters believe the money will not benefit their kids but rather be used to hire unnecessary non-teaching people or wasted on foolish and expensive projects. And what happens? A few months later we have a "special election" and the kids are sent home with flyers informing us we now have one more chance to "do it right" and get the levy passed. If it fails again we may get another "extra special election" or maybe they just campaign brutally until the next regular election and there is the levy again only for more money. They keep this up until, by accident, the thing passes by the narrowest of margins and we are dead because there are no "special elections" to rid ourselves of the hated tax. These guys have it even easier because they can just keep reintroducing their horrid law under different names, changing it slightly each time. They can attach it to other laws, maybe a spending bill that really must be passed. And once they sneak it through, we are dead. Have we had any success repealing the DMCA or the Patriot act? Much as I hate to say it, I'm beginning to think the fun is just about over with the internet and it's "welcome to the war on file trading" brought to you by the same people who gave you the "war on drugs", the "war on porn" etc. etc.
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John Doe, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:27am

Re: Thank you, Mike.
On the flip side, it took millions of people acting to kill this bill for now; it only took a handful of lobbyists and industry moguls to get this bill created. Seems like quite an imbalance doesn't it?
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Atkray (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:29am

Re: I'll hold off for now.
�How do you double tap a congressional bill?
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John Doe, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:31am

I give Mike the credit for this kill
Mike, I give you the credit for the kill, the others were just in with an assist. Four more and you become an Ace.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:34am

'hopefully those on Capitol Hill have learned a big lesson about trying to mess with the internet'.

who are you trying to kid? what lessons have they learned in the past? none! the same thing does come back. they just try to slide it in on the end of another piece of less offensive legislation, hoping that no one notices until it's too late!
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Suja (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:40am

Re:
good luck getting people to do that, you can barely get them to coordinate

now that it's delayed everyone will just go to their holes and forget about the whole thing
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KelvinZevallos (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:40am

Re: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
Probably the phrase comes from Chris Roberts' "Wing Commander IV: The price of Freedom" (Origin and Electronic Arts, 1995).

On topic, you are right. There is a huge chance that this scenario will come back in any moment. And we have to be ready for it, more than we were for SOPA/PIPA.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:46am

Delayed != Internet Wins.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:52am

Re: Re: Re:
Um try bigmeathammer.com ?
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:53am

Re:
Copyright is getting stronger with every court case so that will never happen.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:54am

Re: Re:
What you're not for protecting the Children?
You must be one of them !!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:03am

Cutting back room deals is what congress has been all about since the time of the continental railroad days.
Government has a habit of trying to pick winners and losers, all of the time with poor results for the tax payer.
This is why it is necessary to starve the government of it life blood, cash from taxes.
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:14am

Re: Re: I'll hold off for now.
*Tap, tap on Hillary Clinton's face*

There, I double-tapped a Congressional Bill.
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:16am

Re: Re: Thank you, Mike.
So we kill all the lobbyist firms. Or Batman. I can never remember which...
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:18am

Re: Re:
Apparently, child abuse is less of a crime than sharing a file in America. Who knew?
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:29am

Re:
No, he can't hear us. He can hear Satan telling him that his offer was too high and he needs to take back some cash.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:34am

Can we call the next version Zombia Sopa?
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:42am

Re: Re: The trolls have gone awfully quiet of late?
I think they also said the wild west days of the internet were over. I'm pretty sure they spoke too soon.
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This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:46am

Re: Re:
The reason its survived this long is because the vast majority of the public want what they produce, including most of the freetards on this site.

You people might have fooled gullible punters on Facebook with your lies on Wednesday, but the facts are quickly coming out.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:47am

Re: Re:
Good luck with that. LOL.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:50am

Re: Thank you, Mike.
Yeah, thanks Mike, for protecting those that rip off content. Your lies were effective. Hope you're proud of yourself.

We won't forget it.

Trust me.
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Gwiz (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:56am

Re: Re: Re:
....but the facts are quickly coming out.

Ohhh. Does that mean we will see actual proof of the economic harms from the activities that these bills targeted?
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:57am

Re: Re: Re:
Where are these "facts" that you speak of? What, no links? You're all talk, silly!
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:59am

Re: Re: Thank you, Mike.
Who is this "we" that you speak of? Are there more than two of you? Three? Perhaps four?

You should throw a dinner party!
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 12:00pm

Reid:

"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 internet. 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.�

Piracy isn't going to be legalized. Wake up to reality.
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Gwiz (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 12:08pm

Re: Re: Re: Thank you, Mike.
Who is this "we" that you speak of?

He keeps a live mouse in his pants pocket to offset....um....deficiencies.
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Gwiz (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 12:29pm

Re:
Piracy isn't going to be legalized.

Why not? Serious question here.

Something like half the US population are now coming around to the idea of legalized marijuana due to the fact that ever increasing enforcement against it has done absolutely nothing, except to cost us taxpayers more and more money.

If piracy is truly a businees model problem and not and enforcement problem (which I believe it is) why would legalizing piracy for individual consumption be such stretch? If people really want your content and enjoy it, they will compensate you, regardless if piracy is legal or not, even if it's only because they want you to produce more.
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another mike (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 12:32pm

Re: Re:
Sure you can. Just pirate audio clips from MegaUpload... ohhhh
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another mike (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 12:40pm

Re: Re: Trickery
SOPA and PIPA were going to reform copyright law. We rail against it then in the very next breath we ask for it. No wonder Hollywood lobbyists are having such a hard time buying laws, no one can make up their minds.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 1:10pm

take note of http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/ as of this moment, just in case any of them claim to switch sides henceforth. it is TOO LATE for that. vote franken out, MN.
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BinarySamurai, 20 Jan 2012 @ 1:46pm

Re: Re: Re:
I will I will vote against a children's bill that has anything spoa or pipa related attached to it. I have children and their future freedom means more to me than anything that can be on that children's bill. All it takes is another major stance to get a bill turned down.
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 1:58pm

Re: Re: Re:
Or, I can kill you and take your stuff. After all, you're of no value to culture and society. Also, our "lies" as you so eloquently put it, are based on actual citations. Yours comes from the land of Upper Mianus.
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 2:01pm

Re: Re: Thank you, Mike.
Then reveal yourself. After all, if you have the courage of your convictions, you have nothing to hide, right?

Oh, wait...
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 2:02pm

Re:
Wow, I didn't realise Assassin's Creed was base don the goings-on in the Capitol.
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 2:03pm

Re:
No, but a poke in the back with a hatchet might. Fucking traitors.
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The eejit (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 2:04pm

Re: Re:
Becuase we have an entire industry dedicated to the WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHmbulance and the CRIER department.
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LC (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 4:41pm

This is a short-term win at best. Don't celebrate yet.
We have no guarantee that they won't come back in some other form further down the track. We have no guarantee that provisions of SOPA/PIPA won't be sneaked in piece-by-piece.

We still need to make sure that AT LEAST Lamar Smith in the House and Patrick Leahy in the Senate, if not every single sponsor and supporter of the bills whom hasn't since stepped down, no longer has their seats after the next election. While the article may make Lamar Smith SOUND like he's no longer a sponsor or supporter, not only is it very likely he still supports it, but don't forget he's the one who introduced SOPA in the first place.

Furthermore, we need a constitutional amendment that bans corporations from giving political donations, lobbying government and drafting legislation, and provides heavy penalties for both the corporations themselves and politicians/political candidates who accept the corporate campaign donations or introduce corporate-written/corporate-backed legislation.

We won the battle, but the war is far from over.

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
- Thomas Jefferson
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 4:55pm

Re:
Maybe not, but that doesn't say anything about non-profit filesharing.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 5:22pm

Re: This is a short-term win at best. Don't celebrate yet.
We can be absolutely certain SOPA/PIPA will return in small bite sized chunks hidden in other completely unrelated bills ("Save the Children from the Terrorists Act of 2013").

The election is almost around the corner, so it is important for the future career of any RIAA/MPAA funded politico to at least seem to respect the will of the people they pay lip service of representing. But 2013 is an entire new ball game! Three years to pass unpopular bills and then one year to feed bullshit via corporate owned media to the voters. TV induced amnesia is a powerful tool after all.

As for corporations that more or less openly bribe the pols, they have been recognized by the highest legal court to be real citizens. Far more amoral, unethical and downright psychopathic than the average corporal citizen, but citizens none the less.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 5:28pm

Re:
"This is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it might be the end of the beginning."
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 6:28pm

Re:
Running to the government (or king) and getting a commercial monopoly in return for a payment, has been going on since the middle ages, at least. It is time for a hard reset of Congress, getting all existing congress critters who are unable or unwilling to reject this pattern, replaced with others who will. Do not expect any significant progress from the two major parties. They have been playing this game for far too long. Do your duty, US voters.
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FM Hilton, 20 Jan 2012 @ 6:28pm

No, the victory is temporary-the war goes on
It's just beginning. You see, Congress has this incredibly false idea that if they 'shelve' these laws, and let the hysteria die down for a few months, they can come back later and make more of the same, with less noise. They're convinced that Google was the nasty entity behind this awful disaster. Never mind that none of them ever discovered that the internet is full of people who never use Google.

We have to be aware that these people are in it for the power, nothing else. Vote them all out, and we might see a different playset afterwards.

Until we replace all of the main players who pushed these bills to their resting place, we won't get rid of the problem.

Lamar Smith has to go. Harry Reid has to go. Those are the top two that have got to be unseated for these bills to really die.

Get involved in the voting and then you'll see some change.
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btrussell (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 9:14pm

Re: Re: Thank you, Mike.
He wasn't protecting the **AAs'. Can't you read?

Sounds to me like you are calling him a liar and threatening him as well.

I hope a judge determines whether this is true or not soon.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2012 @ 10:47pm

Re: Re: Thank you, Mike.
Who is this "we" you keep speaking of?

Or do you suffer from split personalities? Voices that whisper in your head?
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techflaws.org (profile), 20 Jan 2012 @ 11:12pm

Re: Re: Re:
but the facts are quickly coming out.

Bring em on, shilltard.
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Istas, 21 Jan 2012 @ 5:54am

This is an encouraging step; it both interrupted (however temporarily) execution of this legislation, and showed the kind of influence people can actually have. This is honestly the first time I've been conscious of being part of a community that had actual effect in political dealings.

However, as many have pointed out, this is -a- victory, not assurance of safety. What is really needed is proactive legislation by people with actual knowledge of the technologies involved that both effectively targets the stated problems, and preempts further attempts at broad, vaguely-worded, freedom-of-speech-hampering legislation by the same interests that fabricated SOPA and PIPA.

Take heart, keep active, and remember that no matter how much cynicism you hear, it is the truth that these people only have as much power as we give them.
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William, 21 Jan 2012 @ 10:18am

Re: Re: Re:
They're already on it.
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John Lenihan, 21 Jan 2012 @ 11:01am

PIPA/SOPA
Email to Sen Rubio of Florida:
Dear Sir,
You sponsored and later withdrew the PIPA copyright law in the U.S. Senate. I would like to offer a few thoughts on the same subject.

In 1934, Disney made a short "talkie" cartoon film "Steamboat Willie" with Mickey Mouse. Anyone viewing this should bow very deeply, because that wretched little cartoon mouse will be copyright for centuries! How that squares with the clear Constitutional requirement that copyrights be granted for "limited times" is no mystery: Congress just makes up laws as it goes along, depending on what greedy media lawyers and their clients want.

Nobody approves of the flagrant distribution of copyright works for profit, as in the case of the group just arrested and shut down in New Zealand; they got what they deserved. However, it's important to note that about a third of the users of that group were innocent people storing personal and business material and not violating any copyrights at all.

Copyright law is a difficult exercise in choosing between a restricted monopoly for limited times as the Constitution demands, and the public interest. Congress has failed miserably in that job; instead they have just stampeded in the direction of the biggest "campaign contributions."

Copyright reminds me about the two Kings: Dr. Martin Luther King the Afro-American cleric and speaker, whose memorial holiday we just observed, and Mr. Stephen King the novelist.

It's now perfect feasable and cheap to copy Mr. King's popular and widely-read novels, violate his copyright, and distribute his works online, or in other electronic form. But there would be no point! His works are widely available in printed or electronic form at reasonable prices; they can be borrowed from public libraries, and bought and sold second-hand without any problem at all. A good, proven, copyright business model protects his interests far better than any Congressional manipulation of copyright. But media interests and their mouthpieces in Congress have fought tooth and claw to cripple the public interest limitations of copyright law, public library access and limited copyright terms especially.

In the case of Dr. King, his important and profound writings and speeches are copyright for ridiculously long times, locked up in vaults somewhere, little noticed and remembered. No one objects to his heirs making a few occasional dollars from them, but the occasions will be very few as time goes on. In the process, important facts of history will be forgotten.

Congress still has a lot of work to do about copyright; please keep the public interest in mind as you go about it.
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JTHoot, 21 Jan 2012 @ 4:28pm

We already have laws in place to handle copyright on the internet. They work just fine. The DMCA has all the provisions copyright holders need to protect their content, but they don't like it because it puts responsibility on THEM. They have to prove their claims, they have to document evidence, and they can be sued for damages if they make a false claim and someone else loses cash because their content is wrongfully taken down. This push for tighter legislation is nothing but a desire to avoid ever being held accountable ever again.

We have to keep the pressure on Congress, but the next step is a boycott of the big industry players. Don't go to the movies, don't buy any music from mainstream artists, don't buy DVDs of the big Hollywood blockbusters. Send that cash to independent creative types instead - not only do they need the money more, but they're also our allies in this fight. Pushing Congress will only do so much: we need to hit the big media conglomerates in the pocket book, and keep doing it until they realize that the only solution is to back down and accept that they don't get to bully the rest of us. That if they want to make money they have to deliver quality products in an accessible format, and that it's innovation - not lawyers - that will let them profit in the digital age.
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Bryan O'Doyle, 21 Jan 2012 @ 5:34pm

Re: Re: The trolls have gone awfully quiet of late?
Are those bastard's all over in the corner at
Luie's, drinking with what's left of their
pay for trollin'?
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Harry Pairoftestees, 22 Jan 2012 @ 6:52am

ITS NOT OVER!
They moved the vote date to the 21st. BFD. So they delayed it a few days.

ITS NOT OVER!
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btrussell (profile), 22 Jan 2012 @ 7:13am

Re: ITS NOT OVER!
Soon:
http://torrentfreak.com/while-house-petitioned-to-investigate-mpaa-bribery-120122/
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