Friday, December 16, 2011

Wow -- huge, unexpected victory

Holy moly. We did it -- at least for now. The House Judiciary Committee looked certain to vote for the Stop Online Piracy Act today. Instead, because of the work of so many rank-and-file Internet users, the bill's lead sponsor acknowledged that our concerns are legitimate, and adjourned the committee without holding a vote!

Of course, there's always more to be done. Will you shoot a quick email to Harry Reid to tell him to stop pushing the Senate version of the bill? He's threatening to call a vote in January:

http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/sopa_win/?referring_akid=1090.45919.dibq...

Here's Wired's take on what went down:

The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor abruptly adjourned Friday with no new vote date set – a surprise given that the bill looked certain to pass out of committee today.

It's amazing work: Politicians are, for the first time, having to contend with the Internet as a political force -- and we might actually win. But now we need to focus attention back on the Senate, where Marjority Leader Harry Reid says the PROTECT IP Act will be the first bill he calls for a vote next year. Will you let him and your Senators know that they need to stop pushing this legislation? It's an election year, and they don't want to do any heavy lifting. Pushing hard now could get them to back down altogether:

http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/sopa_win/?referring_akid=1090.45919.dibq...

Thanks!

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