Anti-Piracy Bills Slowed

ANTI-PIRACY BILLS STALLED: 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. PIPA and SOPA aim to crack down on copyright infringement by restricting sites that host or facilitate the trading of pirated content. Both bills initially seemed on the fast track to passage, but when the House took up its own version of the bill, SOPA, tech companies began lobbying heavily in opposition—an effort that culminated in this week's demonstrations. Reid hinted that PIPA may not be dead yet: "There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved." (1/20p)