It appears that both SOPA and PIPA are hitting the backburner today.
Early Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he will postpone an upcoming procedural vote on the Protect IP Act “in light of recent events.” And now, Stop Online Piracy Act author Lamar Smith says that his House Judiciary Committee will not move on the bill until “there is wider agreement on a solution. He added this is a statement:
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.
This comes after the Congressman vowed to continue pressing SOPA. Just yesterday, he said that “the opponents have not come up with suggestions to reduce online piracy – the problem is too big to ignore.” He went on to say that he was prepared to move forward on the bill.
And earlier this week, Smith released a statement that said he expected markup of SOPA to resume in February.
There has been a huge nosedive in Congressional support of SOPA and PIPA ever since the giant internet protests launched against the legislation on Wednesday. While it’s true that neither Lamar Smith or Harry Reid’s announcements today mean that the bills are dead or even dying, it does represent the fact that both feel they lack the support to move forward at this time.
