In case you haven't been paying attention to the SOPA and PIPA bills, they're pieces of legislation aimed at ending internet piracy that are so hamhandedly crafted that they could fundamentally disrupt the way the internet works. Because of the restrictions in these bills, copyright holders would be able to prosecute anyone who hosts copyright-infringing material rather than just anyone who uploads it. This would mean that any kind of content sharing website (say, YouTube, Reddit, or My.Ology) could no longer allow users to upload whatever they like, since that would force the site to fight constant, expensive lawsuits. Even if they could continue to exist, they would function almost completely differently from how they do today.
If this sounds unpleasant to you, you're not alone. There's a horde of angry internet denizens fed up with these bills, and they've been calling senators, contacting companies, and organizing blackouts in protest. While the bill has received heavy support from organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, it seems the grassroots protest might be starting to take hold.
On Friday, six GOP sponsors of the Senate version of the bill (PIPA) sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to cancel the vote on the bill. In the letter, senators Charles Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, and Tom Coburn explain that they "have increasingly heard from a large number of constituents and other stakeholders with vocal concerns about possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation, including breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights.” While canceling the vote does not mean the death of PIPA, it would reopen debate on the bill and could allow a less damaging version to be passed.
Similarly, protests have led to some changes of heart in the House of Representatives over their bill, SOPA. Representative Lamar Smith of Texas has agreed to drop the DNS-blocking provisions of his bill after general outcry, and representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin changed his tune on the legislation once a SOPA-hating opponent earned over $15,000 in under 48 hours by simply telling Reddit he didn't like SOPA. Once again, neither of these actions is a full-scale retreat from the bill's core language, but it is encouraging to see the protests make progress.
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