In the wake of the hugely successful blackout protests, the Protect IP Act has suffered a major blow to its credibility (yes, another one). The bill's hearing has been postponed until further notice, thanks to "recent events" that saw it gain eighteen new opposing senators.
"In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act," said Sen. Harry Reid.
PIPA was seen by many to be the slimier, more sinister cousin of SOPA, something they were trying to pass under our noses while we were distracted. The blackouts, however, seem to have done more damage to PIPA than SOPA, which is very useful. Now we just need to yank Lamar Smith's head out of his Hollywood-loving ass.
Reid shelves PROTECT IP Act in response to "recent events" [Ars Technica]
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Contest:
9:00 AM on 01.20.2012 | 
Not possible, at first I thought he was just really corrupt and it was about the money. However, the more he talks the more I realize he may very well be the dumbest person on the planet, actually scratch that, dumbest living thing on the planet.
Really, though, as easy as it is to target the bad, we also need to push for the real reforms that are in Rep. Darrel Issa's bill, OPEN.
http://keepthewebopen.com/
the megaupload thing is probably what's going to break both bills no matter how it ends. if they win that case it proves they don't need more powers. if they lose the case it'll prove how damaging a failed attempt at a takedown can be for both the company and users effected.
that site might have had a lot of copyright infringement going on, but it also had a lot of legit use. however it ends those legit users might lose their livelihood, or at least their important backups etc not to mention the millions of dollars worth of accounts that just became worthless because the USA decided to take that site offline. aside from the financial losses, lots of people are going to be harbouring some ill will for this kind of thing now.
kinda fishy...
Also, inb4brainwasherattendent'sconspiracytheories
DAT GIF!
Where's your God now, Jim? How does it feel knowing all this is for nothing, that America's All-Seeing-Eye and invincible and unlimited Long Arm of Freedom's reach can find you anywhere in the entire planet and systematically eliminate you? (implying they've never been able to do that anyways, costanzaface.jpg)
All trolling aside, seriously, don't you think it's kinda coincidental that the raids happened as they supposedly 'backed off' on SOPA/PIPA because of any pressure from a few random websites that mean jack shit to legislators and interest groups' bottom-line?
Here's the thing. SOPA/PIPA is not so much about creating new laws, but making it easier to impose existing ones. Companies CAN take sites down right now, but it's a lengthy, more costly process thanks to there being regulations in place. As such, they can only target high profile examples like, for example, Megaupload.
It is still terrible, and scary, but the laziness and greed of rights holders stops them from taking minor infringements by nobodies like us as a call to action. SOPA/PIPA would take the effort out of it, allowing companies to not be so selective in who they take down. That is why SOPA/PIPA need fighting, and why it's not as useless and futile as you're making it out to be.
Also, you are significantly understating the fresh press Wikipedia's blackout brought to the issue. You're also misunderstanding what the blackouts were for if you think they were intended to upset legislators.
That's why I view the blackouts as a success. Wikipedia going dark prompted the attention of millions in and of itself, and forced the mainstream media to report on it, bringing it to the attention of even more. The more people that begin to be informed, the more potential allies we have, and the less likely SOPA/PIPA will slide into law under the radar.
They're going to have to redraft these bills from the ground up under another name, which at least buys us time until the elections are over.
The DMCA is legit, too, and a large reason why SOPA and PIPA were never needed.
Megaupload and sites like The Pirate Bay have to face the music from DMCA eventually whether SOPA and PIPA were a thing or not, so yes, it is a coincidence and that's all it is. DMCA is still doing its job.
All this talk of copyright and stuff reminds me of this case involving a Brit who's facing extradition because he made a directory of links to 'unlawful downloads or video streams', even though he wasn't responsible for those downloads/streams.
He's facing ten years in jail if found guilty of whatever the authorities are charging him with. I mean, he would have had rulings slightly more in his favour if he didn't set up a second site and put the cover of 'F*** the Police' on the front page after the first was shut down.
I mean, cease and desist is a little annoying, but ten years is overkill.
Hopefully SOPA/PIPA, will get discarded.
They will eventually pass a SOPA/PIPA style bill, or at least in many pieces over many years, unless we stay vigilant. The entertainment industry wants it too badly, and the next time they give it a go, they're going to look back on this and realize a little more discretion is in order.
They almost slipped something like SOPA/PIPA past us last year, and it was the government itself that iced it. There were no protests, no blackouts, no petitions, none of that. They've done it once; they didn't get away with it this time, but they know they came closer when everything was on the hush.
Can you please stop? I get it, you have a huge fucking ego that you have to forcibly satisfy else you'll explode. Why not try dealing in it in more normal ways, like going outside, picking up girls, and having fun, instead of, oh I don't know, trying way to hard to win arguments on the Internet?
Seriously dude, you aren't shit. Get over yourself troll.
Oh, and "where's your god now?"? Seriously? You weren't able to think of a less cliché line to make yourself look like a pompous douche? Get the fuck out of here dude.