Reid postpones PIPA vote

[center rising]

Via Think Progress

http://www.thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/01/20/407824/breaking-sen-reid-postpones-debate-over-protect-ip-act/

[maddezmom]

1. PIPA vote postponed in the Senate

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that he is postponing Tuesday's procedural vote on the Protect IP Act (PIPA), the controversial anti-piracy bill that inspired thousands of websites on Wednesday to go dark.


PIPA and its House companion, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), are intended to strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft, but Internet advocates say they would stifle expression on the World Wide Web. CBS Corporation is among the media and entertainment companies that support the legislation.


In protest of the legislation, major sites like Wikipedia and Reddit participated in a 24-hour "Internet blackout" on Wednesday, while other sites like Google took less drastic steps to signify their opposition to the legislation. The protests inspired voters to deluge their congressmen with phone calls and emails in protest of the bills as well, and by Wednesday afternoon, several congressmen either came out in opposition to the bills or said Congress should take more time to reconsider the legislation. It seemed unlikely PIPA would find the 60 votes necessary to pass Tuesday's test vote in the Senate.


"There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved," Reid said in a statement. Reid encouraged PIPA's author, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to continue working with stakeholders on the bill "to forge a balance between protecting Americans' intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation on the Internet."


more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57362675-503544/pipa-vote-postponed-in-the-senate/

[LynneSin]

3. Leahy needs to include Internet stakeholders in the discussion of this bill.

Obviously the democrats are linked with this bill for a very obvious reason - the Entertainment industry really wants this bill and Entertainment is always big money for democratic candidates.

I think on paper the ideas that Leahy wants to create are good ones. Piracy is a major concern and should be addressed. But the way it should be addressed is not by turning the internet into a nanny-state with Internet Website owners being the police.

If you want to combat piracy you need both entertainment and internet parties involved else any laws created will be too lopsided to actually work right.

[2ndAmForComputers]

8. Doesn't the Megaupload raid prove the current system works?

Really, what else is needed?

[kenfrequed]

9. I think it is an awful bill

That is only there to assist in further media monopolization and the big media colonization of the Web.

The internet is where we tease apart the corporate approved news and the right wing drek that is Fox. If they are allowed to kill websites just for referencing a peice of their "property" in the process of tearing it apart then we are hosed.

Piracy sounds a lot worse than it actually is and those that engage in it are usually trying to cover for a service they do not have access to. There is little of redeemable value in this bill at all that has not already been handled (better) by other legislation.

[Botany]

2. Good

I guess Skinner shutting down DU for a day scared Harry Reid.

[Ron Obvious]

4. Waiting for the heat to die down

They're just waiting for the heat to die down and the public to forget all about it. Then it will pass as an amendment to the "we like fluffy bunnies" act, or the "protect innocent kiddies from nasty paedophiles" act.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. The "public" wasn't who paid it any mind

It was the big web site owners and "informed" public ("informed" meaning a tiny tiny fraction of general internet users who understood the ramifications).

If it comes up again, Google, DU, Wikipedia, et al will all protest it again. The public doesn't even know or care how the "internets" work as long as they can get to their Facebook nonsense or follow tweets from Lady Gaga.

Not sure why the assumption that it will pass anyway in the same form that it is in now but at some later time and the big sites will sit there and let it go.

[DemonSpawn]

7. "SOPA would censor the internet?"

"Would I still be able to play FarmVille?"

[pmorlan1]

18. I agree with you

I think you're right. I think they will just lay low for awhile and work behind the scenes to plan their attack. They want this Bill or one just like it passed so they aren't going to just drop it. We've seen this tactic before. When they bring it back it will be a rush vote and nobody will have time to stop them. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so.

[bemildred]

5. Stall, hope for a better chance later. nt

[Fearless]

10. I wish our Congress was Internet-literate.

Really though. How can you pass (try to pass) laws for things you don't even understand?

[DemonSpawn]

11. I would like to see the average member of Congress

check their e-mail. Themselves. Without calling the help-desk.

Hell, I would like to see them use MS Word.

[Fearless]

12. +1

They can't because the internet tubes are clogged with all that porno.

[GoneOffShore]

14. Hey - I've been using 'puters since 1992

And I can't use MS Word.

Makes me do this and then this

[DemonSpawn]

15. You think Word is a bitch?

Try Access.

[GoneOffShore]

17. Eeek! Of course, Photoshop

and it's siblings are just impossible.

My mind doesn't work that way anymore.

[midnight]

20. I can't speak for what congress understands, but chances are ALEC wrote this legislation....

[GoneOffShore]

13. We have to keep hammering at them.

Find out who supports and contact them directly.

http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

[harun]

16. Stall for more campaign contributions from both sides.

[tawadi]

21. It's sad

But you are probably right.

[wwytchwood]

19. congress critters' positions on this

http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/L000261
this links to Levin my DINO Senator, but the others are on this site - as Yogi said: "you could look it up" (Berra not Bear)

[Dont call me Shirley]

22. It is disusting that so many progressive so-called liberal senators and reps were for this

censorship bill, makes one wonder if the whole Conservative/Liberal thing is upside down. People who are for "us little guys" such as Al Franken, Pat Leahy, Tom Udall are wholly supporting this shut down democracy bill.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

23. Intellectual propery lobbyists often prefer Democrats.

See: Fritz Hollings, Howie Berman, and their "splendid" work on behalf of RIAA/MPAA.

[AverageJoe90]

25. Well, it isn't upside down. In fact, I betcha that's what the GOP wants us to think.

Don't know how someone like Franken got suckered into a bill that was originally a Rethug brainchild but maybe we can turn things around, because if not, they will have played directly into the hands of Lamar Smith, et al.
The real sad thing is that many of the Dems who did support this bill may have legitimately thought it might help cut down on unsafe products entering the U.S.......oh how wrong they were. And frankly, it also seems that at least most of the Republicans on both sides of the debate are being disingenuous in some way or the other(especially those like Issa, Inhofe, Bachmann, et al.), particularly those opposing the bill, likely due to the fact they've been desperate for votes for some time now.

[slay]

24. The shit needs to be CANCELLED - not postponed

no amount of tweaking can fix a turd this big my god! what are they thinking? voting for this shit - or ANY version of it will mean political suicide once people see the horrible effects it will have on the internet. piracy is TINY compared to legit sales. most people don't have the time or desire to figure out how to get a so called "pirated" movie without risking getting a virus. the MPAA and chairman Chris Dodd - a DEM senator for 30 years - need to stop being so fucking greedy and accept that in this economy they are doing GREAT. really great so stop being so fuckin greedy Dodd and other SOPA supporters. any Dems involved in this madness better stay the hell away from it. You do NOT fuck with the internet.