After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill
JIM ABRAMS, Associated PressUpdated 09:36 p.m., Friday, January 20, 2012
In
the U.S., momentum against the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property
Act and the House's Stop Online Piracy Act, known popularly as PIPA and
SOPA, grew quickly on Wednesday when the online encyclopedia Wikipedia
and other Web giants staged a one-day blackout and Google organized a
petition drive that attracted more than 7 million participants.
That day alone, at least six senators who had co-sponsored the Senate legislation reversed their positions. House Speaker John Boehner,
R-Ohio, in statements at the time and again on Friday, stressed that
more consensus-building was needed before the legislation would be ready
for a vote.
Markham Erickson, executive director of NetCoalition, commended Congress for "recognizing the serious collateral damage this bill could inflict on the Internet."
The group represents Internet and technology companies including Google, Yahoo and Amazon.com. Erickson said they would work with Congress "to address the problem of piracy without compromising innovation and free expression."
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has joined Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Moran in proposing an alternative anti-piracy bill, credited opponents with forcing lawmakers "to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation."
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