Mere hours after Senator Harry Reid announced a delay on the vote on the PROTECT IP Act, better known as PIPA, the leading proponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Rep. Lamar Smith, announced a delay in that particular piece of legislation.
Both pieces of legislation have effectively been shelved, largely due to efforts made by the Internet in bringing awareness to the issue. Many leading websites lead a protest against both PIPA and SOPA on the 18th by blacking out their content and leading visitors to information about the two would-be laws.
“The Committee will continue work with both copyright owners and Internet companies to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America’s intellectual property,” said Lamar Smith. “We welcome input from all organizations and individuals who have an honest difference of opinion about how best to address this widespread problem.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, a leading proponent against both SOPA and PIPA, commended supporters of the Internet for their diligence in fighting the bills.
“Supporters of the Internet deserve credit for pressing advocates of SOPA and PIPA to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation,” Issa said. “Over the last two months, the intense popular effort to stop SOPA and PIPA has defeated an effort that once looked unstoppable.”
With these announcements, SOPA and PIPA may be indefinitely shelved, but it remains to be seen whether the driving ideas behind them will resurface in some form or another in future legislation.
Source: Ars Technica
