[Attorney Jaffe]

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has officially been put on hold, and in the U.S. Senate leaders announced they had postponed their vote on the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57...news&tag=title

[AffiliateHound]

It likely would not have passed in the Senate, but in the teabagger house it at one time was a sure thing, until the massive outcry from the public and the internet world. Now we have a reality check from the guy in charge of our internet lives, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).

If you have ever heard this idiot speak, you have realized that he has NO concept of the internet or how websites obtain content. But, he said today that his committee will not take up SOPA until "there is wider agreement on a solution." And then he added this:

"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,...

"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."

By far, the industry making the largest campaign contributions to Smith has been the entertainment industry, lead by CC Media Holdings*, the parent of media giant Clear Channel Communications, which among among other holdings, owns more than 850 US-based radio stations.

___
*CC Media Holdings is in turn owned by Bain Capital, the leverage buyout firm formerlly operated by Mitt Romney

[AffiliateHound]

Add re Rep. Lamar Smith:

A turning point in his reconsideration of the bill was when it was shown to him that his own website had appropriated content from uncredited sources that could have caused it to be shut down were SOPA current law.

[teezone]

Jon Stewart had a segment this week called "Angry Nerds".. and showed the members of the committee actually using the word "nerd".. about 3.5 minutes into this clip:

Bring on the nerds! Jon Stewart’s hilarious look at the SOPA fight - GeekWire

All joking aside, I think that something needs to be done about online theft & copyright violations, but this was definitely not the answer.

[MariaFrolova]

Some people believe that all this is performed in order to redirect public attention

[AffiliateHound]

Originally Posted by MariaFrolova

Some people believe that all this is performed in order to redirect public attention

Uh, no, This was an orchestrated campaign in which media interests spent a fortune (many millions of dollars) on lobbying efforts. AND, early efforts were to keep it UNDER the radar - when the effects of the proposed legislation became known is when massive opposition brought it down.

[calebtheredwood]

Originally Posted by AffiliateHound

Uh, no, This was an orchestrated campaign in which media interests spent a fortune (many millions of dollars) on lobbying efforts. AND, early efforts were to keep it UNDER the radar - when the effects of the proposed legislation became known is when massive opposition brought it down.

Agreed

The actual SOPA & PIPA bills didn't bother me as much as it was an obvious abuse of special interest paid politicians. These Bills weren't drafted by politicians as much as they were by the special interests.

One of my Representatives was a sponsor of the Bills. I had even voted for the clown humper

[Kate_Oranum]

Don't want to get into any political views - but probably it is for redirecting attention

[AffiliateHound]

Originally Posted by Kate_Oranum

Don't want to get into any political views - but probably it is for redirecting attention

One more time - this allegation is totally UNSUPPORTED by the FACTS. The bills were supported by the political clout and massive contributions from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the National Association of Theatre Owners, the Directors Guild of America, the American Federation of Musicians, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the Screen Actors Guild, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Nashville Songwriters Association International, Songwriters Guild of America, Viacom, Institute for Policy Innovation, Macmillan Publishers, Acushnet Company, Recording Industry Association of America, Copyright Alliance, NBCUniversal, and primarily from the Motion Picture Association of America and its head, former senator Chris Dodd.

Their intent was to guide this through Congress as quietly and secretly as possible. It was defeated because citizens found out what the effect would be and when the internet world spoke, Congress listened (see my comments about Cong. Lamar Smith).

From the Hill:

Consumer group Public Knowledge on Friday accused the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its head, former Sen. Chris Dodd, of trying to intimidate lawmakers into supporting a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills.

In recent days, Dodd and other top Hollywood figures have threatened to cut off campaign donations to politicians who do not support their effort to crackdown on online copyright infringement.

"Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake," Dodd said on Fox News on Thursday.

"Threats like that are no way to conduct the serious, sober discussions needed to figure out exactly what ails the movie industry and to come up with solutions," Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge, said in a statement. "It was Hollywood’s arrogance in pushing bills through Congress without proper vetting that caused them to be withdrawn; these threats also are not helpful to figuring out what ails the industry and how to solve their issues. As the Blackout Day showed, that type of thinking is how the old politics works."

The MPAA, along with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have been lobbying hard for Congress to pass the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act.

But congressional leaders shelved the bills on Friday after thousands of websites staged an unprecedented protest earlier in the week.

[AffiliateHound]

One final MariaFrolova and Kate_Oranum - Just who was using PIPA and SOPA to "re-direct attention"? These were originally bipartisan bills. SOPA was introduced in the House by a Republican (diverting attention?) and PIPA was introduced in the Senate by a Democrat and a group of 11 co-sponsors from both parties.

[Kate_Oranum]

Thank you for clearing this up - I guess when you read one thing to many time you start to believe it - eventhough there is another side to it which might make more sense.

Thank you again!

[Chuck Hamrick]

Eight Congressmen yesterday sent a written inquiry to Google Inc. seeking information about the company’s revised privacy policy. The revised policy, which will be introduced in March, makes clear that the search giant is monitoring a consumer’s actions across various Google products so that it can better target ads at consumers across multiple web-enabled devices.

Let's see how Google stands up to scrutiny!

Congressmen search for answers from Google

[MariaFrolova]

I wanted to say just stay focused.