Antipiracy Bills Put on Hold in Congress!! wahoo!

SOPA and PIPA Antipiracy Bills Put on Hold in Congress - WSJ.com

Leaders of the Internet movement that turned little-noticed antipiracy legislation into a national cause proclaimed victory Friday after congressional backers abandoned their bills.

Congressional backers of online antipiracy legislation called off their efforts Friday following a storm of opposition by Internet companies, effectively killing the bills in their current form. Peter Landers has details on Lunch Break.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nevada) called off a Tuesday vote and Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas) said he was cancelling plans to have the House Judiciary Committee take up the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Craigslist Inc. founder Craig Newmark, who had been rallying the digerati against the legislation, called the move "a serious grassroots victory for democracy." He said champions of the Internet now need to "turn that success into a tipping point which restores the American vision of honest self-government."

The bills, which backers said would have helped U.S. authorities crack down on foreign websites involved in the piracy of copyrighted movies and music, turned into a test of the ability of websites like Wikipedia and Craigslist to rally users for a cause.

They succeeded: Millions of people signed online petitions, lawmakers were flooded with emails, and congressional leaders who just days ago were pledging to press ahead were forced into a hasty retreat.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.) said in an interview he was besieged with comments this week as he made the rounds of Rotary and Lions Clubs in his state. "This was a topic that was raised in every circumstance," he said. "It was a new segment of Kansans who got engaged."

The senator had taken an early stance against the legislation, influenced in part by leading opponent Google Inc. which is building a high-speed broadband network in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan.

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Still uncertain was whether the legislation could be revived in a new form. Supporters said they weren't giving up.

"There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved," Mr. Reid said. "Counterfeiting and piracy cost the American economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year."

Wikipedia, which gave the movement perhaps its biggest publicity boost by going dark Wednesday, put a note on its home page telling users it expected the fight to continue: "Thank you for protecting Wikipedia. We're not done yet."

The legislation--known in the Senate as the Protect IP Act--would have let the Justice Department seek a court order requiring U.S. Internet providers to block access to foreign pirate websites. Websites such as Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter said that would chill free expression and single out for punishment websites that hadn't knowingly posted infringing content.

Rep. Smith accused the critics of fear-mongering and said law-abiding sites would have no problem operating under the new rules. But he was too late to stop the tide of opposition, which reflected broader skepticism by Internet users about regulation emanating from Washington. Some critics likened the antipiracy bills to the "Great Wall of China" that Beijing uses to police Internet content.

The NetCoalition, which has represented technology companies including Google, Yahoo Inc., and Amazon.com Inc. in the battle, said it commended Congress "on recognizing the serious collateral damage this bill could inflict on the Internet."

The coalition, echoing statements by Facebook and other opponents, said it was willing to cooperate on new antipiracy legislation, but that would probably look significantly different from the bills congressional leaders dropped Friday. "We remain committed to working with Congress to address the problem of piracy without compromising innovation and free expression," NetCoalition said.

The legislation had unanimous support last year in the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Pat Leahy (D., Vt.). He called Friday for a quick debate on changes. Otherwise, "more time will pass with jobs lost and economies hurt by foreign criminals who are stealing American intellectual property," he said. "I hope other members of Congress won't simply stand on hollow promises to find a way to eliminate online theft."

The derailing of the legislation is a blow to the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group for Hollywood studios that had aligned with U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor unions to drum up support.

"As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves; American jobs will continue to be lost; and consumers will continue to be exposed to fraudulent and dangerous products," Chris Dodd, the former senator and MPAA's chairman, said in a statement.

--Peter Landers contributed to this article.