As more and more actions are planned in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), the dual pieces of anti-online piracy legislation moving through Congress, the architects and supporters of these bills have finally begun tiptoeing back.
PIPA co-sponsor Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) on late Friday released a statement saying: “I would not vote for final passage of PIPA, as currently written, on the Senate floor.”
However, Cardin said he would remain a co-sponsor because it would give him “the opportunity to be an active participant in the process of addressing the most serious concerns raised by my constituents.”
Meanwhile, six other Republican Senators — including Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Tom Coburn (R-OK) — sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Friday asking him to delay the impending full Senate vote on PIPA scheduled for January 24.
As the letter (which was cc’ed to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)) reads:
Since the mark-up, we 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. Moreover, in light of potential cybersecurity implications, we believe hearing from the Administration and relevant agencies is imperative.
Reid in mid December filed cloture, breaking a block on PIPA that was put in place by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to prevent the legislation from moving forward. Reid’s move meant that the full Senate would have to quickly vote on PIPA despite the rising tide of opposition to the bill and calls to slow the process down.
As Donny Shaw points out at OpenCongress: The letter marks an “incredible turn of events,” given that support for PIPA seemed so high just a few short weeks ago.
And in perhaps the best sign yet that the online protests started by Reddit are having their intended affect, SOPA sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and PIPA sponsor Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) both released statements on their official websites over the past 48 hours announcing that they would be at least delaying the implementation of one of the more reviled aspects shared by both SOPA and PIPA, the one that would force Internet Service Providers (companies including AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner) to impose Domain Name Service (DNS) blocking on foreign webpages accused of hosting pirated content. Essentially, the DNS blocking provisions would force ISPs to show an error message when consumers try to navigate to a website accused of piracy.
After hearing from various constituents and industry personnel who pointed out that the provision would essentially break the Internet for U.S. users, both lawmakers decided it is time to put the breaks on at least that part of the anti-piracy effort.
Smith was the more reactive of the two to these complaints, saying he would remove entirely the DNS blocking provision from SOPA.
“After consultation with industry groups across the country, I feel we should remove Domain Name System blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the [House Judiciary] Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision,” Smith wrote in a statement posed on his website Friday. “We will continue to look for ways to ensure that foreign websites cannot sell and distribute illegal content to U.S. consumers.”
Critically, Smith’s statement doesn’t say that the DNS provision will be eliminated entirely, only that it will be temporarily removed until “further examination” occurs.
That would likely entail more hearings involving “technical experts,” aka “the nerds,” Web entrepreneurs and engineers like Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, who are due to testify in a hearing on January 18 at a separate committee, the House Oversight Committee, which is chaired by stalwart SOPA critic Rep. Darrell Issa.
And the rest of Smith’s statement continues to explain just why SOPA was needed and why it was the perfect solution to cracking down on online piracy. Apparently, it just needed a little tweaking.
Intriguingly, this is actually the second major tweak Smith has made to SOPA on his own volition since he introduced it into the House in late October 2011. Smith also introduced a manager’s amendement in December attempting to narrow the definitions of what could be considered a “rogue” website under the bills, but critics weren’t satisfied, pointing out numerous other problems the remaining over-broad language.
Still, Smith’s turnabout is impressive, and especially rich given that less than 24 hours prior, he gave an interview to Reuters defying his critics and vowing to pass the legislation.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), sponsor of PIPA, couched his words even more. On Thursday, his office released a statement to the following effect:
“I remain confident that the ISPs - including the cable industry, which is the largest association of ISPs - would not support the legislation if its enactment created the problems that opponents of this provision suggest. Nonetheless, this is in fact a highly technical issue, and I am prepared to recommend we give it more study before implementing it.“As I prepare a managers’ amendment to be considered during the floor debate, I will therefore propose that the positive and negative effects of this provision be studied before implemented, so that we can focus on the other important provisions in this bill, which are essential to protecting American intellectual property online, and the American jobs that are tied to intellectual property.”
As SOPA critic and IP expert Mike Masnick pointed out at Techdirt, however, “That is NOT removing the DNS blocking provisions. It is merely delaying them.” Still, Masnick was more celebratory about the late Friday developments, writing “All of this, by the way, is because tons of you (tons!) have stepped up and reached out to your Reps. and Senators and let them know that these bills are unacceptable. Let’s see if Harry Reid, Patrick Leahy and Lamar Smith finally admit that they, too, can hear you.”
Markham Erickson, executive director of Net Coalition, a Web industry group that represents Google, Facebook and numerous other leading brands, released a statement Friday applauding the move but saying it didn’t go far enough: “”While we await details on revisions to the House and Senate legislation, we wish to underscore that significant amendments still need to be made. Significant concerns with the private right of action, mandated search filtering, and legal risk and uncertainty still remain.”
Indeed, as Sherwin Siy, deputy legal director of Public Knowledge, an online citizens’ rights organization, said in a statement released to the press late Friday: “While we are pleased that some progress is being made, we are also firm in our opposition to both bills because some very bad provisions remain. The bills are still over-broad in their reach, for example (as in the Senate bill) allowing court orders against anyone a providing ‘directory, index, reference, pointer, or hypertext link.’ Both bills still include a private right of action with few protections from abuse, meaning that sites can be killed without ever being proven to violate copyright.”
And as Andrew Rasiej, Chair of NY Tech Meetup’s Board told TPM via telephone: “If Reid decides to cancel the vote, we’ll turn our protest into a celebration.”
Correction: This post originally misstated that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was a co-sponsor of PIPA. In fact, he is not among the co-sponsors of the legislation. We have updated the post to correct the record and regret the error.
Carl Franzen
Carl Franzen is TPM Idea Lab's tech reporter. He used to work for The Daily, AOL and The Atlantic Wire (though not simultaneously, thankfully). He's never met a button that didn't need to be pressed. He can be reached at carl@talkingpointsmemo.com.
SOPA = Suck On Politicians Asses
Slate reports that the Obama administration is coming out against SOPA and PIPA - http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/01/14/oba...
Keep up the pressure, Americans! For should these abominations pass there, they'll surely be forced upon us Brits, and from here to the EU!DO! NOT! WANT!
Leahy should thank the stars that this is (hopefully) going to get shot down. It would be a black stain on his record as "the guy who trashed the internet".
Tim Seaver Yeah, I don't see how he could support this bill as the senator from the People's Republic of Vermont!
Funny how they cry "big government", but then, they want to regulate the internet for free use!!! Republicans are the same as the democrats. Both are corrupted by money from Wall Street lobbyists!
In their minds, if it's free, then it has to be illegal. Both parties are corrupted by GREED!
TotalRecall9 The internet is new and exciting to Republicans, it's not like a woman's uterus that they've attempted to 'govern' now for well over 50 years with legislation.
CynnerTotalRecall9 Good comments, and I totally agree with Cynner. The Republicans are getting bored with having their noses up women's uteruses for so long. Now they want to start poking around their noses into the internet.
George HoffmanCynnerTotalRecall9 Don't be so quick to let the Democrats off the hook. PIPA has 21 Dem co-sponsors to the 16 Republicans. SOPA has 7 Democrats co-sponsoring it out of the 23.
Particularly as originally conceived, the SOPA bill was a true abomination, taking a "we must destroy the village in order to save it" approach to the internet. As when that saying was originally coined, the destructive tactics wouldn't even get the bad guys anyway. Using DNS blocking to stop pirates is an approach that is easily circumvented (from what I gather, browser add-ons have already been written that will do just that).
SOPA addresses the use of circumvention techniques (such as browser add-ons, IP spoofing, anonymous surfing, etc.) by making those criminal activities. Essentially, persons using such methods can be prosecuted for intent and subject to punishment as if they actually engaged in piracy. Yeah, this legislation is outright fascist. richard_thunderbay
Both of my Democratic senators, Amy Klobuchar & Al Franken, are co-sponsors of this bill. I wonder if anyone has been able to penetrate their bubbles and explain to them that they are laying the first brick in the Digital Berlin Wall. I've tried to do this several times, without success.
Al Franken? I find that difficult to believe. Links, please? epiphyte
Great resource to track all who favor, all who oppose and all who are currently unknown:
- http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
You can enter your state for a listing of all Representatives and Senators and their standing, with fun details such as how much money they've received from the entertainment industry lobby.
Incredibly and sadly, Sen. Franken supports PIPA and will apparently vote in favor of passing the legislation come Tue, 24 January. FFFFFffffffuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!
datora Sad but true......
I'd hardly call it "caving" when all they are really saying is that they will put off passing the parts we really object to until nobody's paying attention.
Lobbyists are probably offering lots of money, and our crooked legislators are not going say no to the cash until such pandering to Lobbyists ends a few political careers.
I understand Al Franken is one of the sponsors of this attack on the internet, what's his excuse?
We need to throw all the bums out, all of them, starting with the turds in our own party that are little more than whores for their highest bidding corporate masters. Senators Schumer and Leahy, I'm looking at you.
dhunt26 Sounds groovy. Then we can decide on the new brace of candidates who have suddenly become the latest beneficiaries of Citizens United. Elizabeth Warrens don't grow on trees, people. Until true campaign finance reform happens, we'll never get rid of the whores... especially if the GOP gets its way and corporations can fund single political campaigns -- the "logical next step" from Citizens United.
sm0k3onth3wat3rdhunt26 I thought the next logical step from citizens united was corporations being able to run for office directly. Apple for Senate!
dhunt26 "Throw them all out" is always the battle cry of those who have only anger and no judgement.
And what if the alternative is even worse? See, if you think even one more step ahead, you get a saner conclusion.
A scalpel, you friggin' dunce. NOT an uzi. Is it really so hard to pay attention as if you might be an adult? Also, START with the teabaggers. Those are the most treasonous wretches scumming the bottom of the barrel. If your car has a flat tire, you don't start by rubbing some wax onto the paintjob. dhunt26
Oppose such CAPITALISTIC legislation!<Share with the world!
Maybe signing all those petitions does help. Then again, maybe they're just waiting till after the election when they feel they're in the clear to pass unpopular legislation for their lobbyist friends. I suspect the latter.
We should not be afraid of what our government does - they should be afraid of what we will do should they try to enact laws that go against our wishes.
Alicyn Henning I agree, but even many Democrats seem to think that if the Lobbyists give them enough money they can crap all over the people who voted them in to office. In the next election, we need to end a few careers of politicians who think they are invulnerable because they've got lots of superpacs in their back pockets. We need to remind Democrats and Republicans that they still can't actually buy votes.
Excellent. Next up: Patriot Act. Then, Authorization of Forces. Then Citizens United. Then end the Drug War.
Then maybe the ship will right itself.
Marioth Unfortunately Citizens United is a Supreme Court ruling based on Constitutional claims - it is not clear that this blight on America can be fixed by a mere act of Congress. All the other ones however can be legislated away any time.
Shows you what a lot of red herrings can do. What will be interesting is to watch piracy apologists continue to whine. Ultimately the status quo is just fine for them because companies like Google (Big Tech) make tons off content theft. It's about the money, as usual.
Tomgrrrl I got a reply from Toomey (R-PA) on his validation of why he supports SOPA/PIPA. This from a man who has to have his staffers manage his FB account, his twitter account, and his email.
Why would I call a plumber to fix my oven?
A good public official sits back and says... "Do I have enough personal knowledge and an open mind to understand this concept completely?"
But instead, they grab the money from the lobbyists, take the pre-written legislation from their hands, and "sponsor" it, taking ownership of something they have not one frackin' clue.
"A good public official ..." Cynner
But, recall, you ARE talking about Toomey. What for you non-sequitor ..?
Tomgrrrl Oh look, it's the astroturfer.
Tomgrrrl Well, you're right that it's all about the money:
Tomgrrrl Let me guess. You have absolutely no tech related background or experience.
Tomgrrrl You assume that SOPA/PIPA is about piracy, it's not. It's about putting in place yet another way wealthy people and organizations can destroy the work of ordinary people and small organizations with a mere accusation. Not due process, just an accusation. Kind of like the Republican idea that merely accusing someone of being a terrorist is an excuse to deprive them of all civil rights and lock them up forever. That isn't the constitution I am familiar with.
condewTomgrrrl
They should be called the cyber-Gitmo bills.
Tomgrrrl "Piracy apologists?" Hadn't heard that one yet. As if.
Tim SeaverTomgrrrl "Piracy apologists" is just like trying to tar opponents of the misnamed Patriot Act "terrorist supporters".
As my uterus has been screaming out loud for two decades...
"Old white men who do not know of which they speak should not try to take ownership and fix something that isn't broken."
Fix the copyright and IP laws, and leave our internet alone. But first, figure out what a router is, what DNS is, and how to turn off your smart phone.
The truly sad thing is that most of these retards have phones that are smarter than they are. "In Soviet Russia, smart phone turn YOU off!" Cynner
Carl. Good content. Work on your writing.
DEAR SOPA AND PIPA SUPPORTERS,
Piracy is going happen no matter what. Check swap meets for pirated movies! Check computers for pirated shows, movies, music, etc.! That alone will add up to millions of people in America. YOU say that the media businesses are losing money, I say yes, but if the money was divided evenly you wouldn't even complain. Movie stars get a bunch of money for making films yet I don't see them working their asses off by saving or taking care of someone. AMERICA ISN'T FAIR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING YOU, SO SHOVE THAT UP YOUR ASS AND LEAVE THE INTERNET ALONE!
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like