"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy," Smith said. "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."
The move came shortly after the Senate postponed a key vote on the PIPA bill scheduled for next week and amid calls for a consensus before Congress moves forward on any legislation to address the problem of foreign piracy websites. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), champion of PIPA, warned "The day will come when the senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem."
No Mr Leahy, you don't seem to get it. When one petition alone (Google's) receives 4.5 million signatures, over one million emails are sent to congressmen regarding SOPA and PIPI, and 7,000+ sites (including this one) either 'go dark' or protest against said legislation...all within a 24 hours period...that's not just some trivial, knee-jerk reaction.
"Senator, you have a call on line one....it's the Arab Spring calling."
Even if SOPA and PIPA did come to the President to sign in the law, he's essentially oathbound to veto them.
ReplyDeleteWhat little press there was on it, much the same was said about the National Defense Authorization Act. That equally dystopian / Orwellian piece of legislation was signed into law on New Years Eve while no one was paying attention: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/with-reservations-obama-signs-act-to-allow-detention-of-citizens/
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