S. Samuel
A decision on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) will have to wait longer than expected as government officials are delaying a vote on both bills.
According to reports, the House and Senate will not vote on either bill early this week.
After Google and Wikipedia registered their disapproval over a pair of anti-piracy bills, dubbed SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), by blocking their sites for a day this week, congressional leaders backed away, throwing both into limbo. The Senate had been scheduled to vote next week on PIPA, but today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was postponing the vote “in light of recent events.” Meanwhile, the House said it is putting on hold SOPA, its version of the bill “until there is wider agreement on a solution,” according to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith. The moves came after several lawmakers flipped their position on the bills in the wake of widespread online and offline protests. (HITS Daily Double)
The bills were slated to get voted on Tuesday (January 24).
Sites like Wikipedia, Reddit and Oh No They Didn’t have gone dark in protest. Other sites, such as Google, continue to run today, but have blacked out their logo in support of stopping SOPA. The bill goes to the Senate on January 24, though the Internet blackout seems to have already influenced some members of Congress — PIPA co-sponsor Florida Sen. Marco Rubio pulled his name from the bill Wednesday, a day after SOPA co-sponsor Arizona Rep. Ben Quayle pulled his name. Senators from Utah and Missori also announced that they would no longer be supporting the bill. (Idolator)
SOPA sparked outbursts from various hip-hop stars including Grand Hustle’s B.o.B.
“I’m not usually into politics but …. this has gone too far… we have to fight for our freedom …. https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/,” he tweeted January 18th.
“How do you guys feel about this?”
“RT @EllieCrystal: Where do you stand on Congressional legislation censoring the Internet? <<< Aggressive Control"
“Think about it… All the information we obtain and all the people we communicate with via Internet… https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/ #StrangeClouds”
“This a blow to the heart of the American people who have been able to put food on the table from the opportunities provided by web.” (B.o.B.’s Twitter)
West Coast rapper Kreayshawn also voiced her stance on SOPA.
“#StopSOPA #STOPSOPA #stopsopa,” she tweeted January 18th.
“Don’t let the government take away our power to share art, music, creativity and individualism. #StopSOPA”
“Alot of you might be seeing this #SOPA thing and not understand it but watch this simple video and SPRED THE WORD!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rBiZC2gFoY8# !”
“#stopsopa don’t let the Internet become a television.” (Kreayshawn’s Twitter)
