Stop Online Piracy Act

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Part of SOPA Could be Back
 Part of SOPA 
 Could be Back 

Part of SOPA Could be Back

The part that could send Justin Bieber to jail

(Newser) - Thought SOPA was dead and buried? Its corpse could be reanimated—or at least a body part, anyway. The Washington Post has picked up on a recent government report , which recommends that one part of SOPA be brought back to the table: making it a felony to stream copyrighted works....

Reid Delays Anti-Piracy Vote
 Reid Delays Anti-Piracy Vote 

Reid Delays Anti-Piracy Vote

As Republicans solidify PIPA opposition

(Newser) - Harry Reid has postponed Tuesday's test vote on the Senate's anti-piracy bill, after a storm of online protests convinced several of the bill's co-sponsors to switch sides, the AP reports. Democrats have now emerged as the main backers of the PROTECT IP Act, the Wall Street Journal...

FBI Closes File-Sharing Site; Anonymous Gets Revenge

After Megaupload is shut down, hackers hit Justice Department

(Newser) - After yesterday's SOPA protest comes more online piracy fun: The FBI today shut down the file-sharing site Megaupload.com and charged seven people with copyright infringement, reports the Wall Street Journal . Soon after, the hackers of Anonymous sought revenge by taking down the websites of the Justice Department, Universal...

Chinese Bloggers Mock US' SOPA Outrage

Even as some say they support the protesters

(Newser) - Chinese Internet users were just a wee bit amused by American protests over the Stop Online Privacy Act . "Don't understand the hoopla over Wikipedia blackout in the US today," one microblogger wrote, according to the LA Times . "We blacked it out here years ago. Where are...

SOPA Protest Hails Web's 'Coming of Age'

Protesting websites' message clicked with users

(Newser) - Yesterday, we witnessed the power of the Internet to influence policy, as countless websites went dark to protest SOPA and PIPA. It did the job: Congress faced an onslaught of complaints about the controversial online piracy measures—which were born of traditional lobbying and heavy corporate spending, writes James Temple...

OPEN Act Emerges as SOPA, PIPA Take a Beating

Senators desert PIPA amid public backlash

(Newser) - The public backlash and Internet protest yesterday made the SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy bills look a lot like a sinking ship—one many lawmakers decided not to go down with. Sen. Marco Rubio dropped his support for the PIPA bill he co-sponsored and he was joined by 17 others, including...

Marco Rubio Drops PIPA Sponsorship

Says he's worried about unintended consequences

(Newser) - Internet, you have been heard—by a couple of influential senators at least. Marco Rubio says he's dropping his support of the Protect Intellectual Property Act, of which he is a co-sponsor, Politico reports. In a Facebook post , the Florida senator says he's heard "legitimate concerns about...

Websites Go Dark to Protest SOPA

Thousands of sites join strike

(Newser) - Even the LOLcats are going on strike. The "Cheezburger Network" is among an estimated 7,000 websites shutting down today to protest two Internet-regulation bills making their way through Congress, the Washington Post reports. Wikipedia went dark at midnight Eastern time and was soon joined by Reddit, Raw Story,...

Wikipedia to Go Dark in SOPA Protest

Make sure you don't need to look anything up Wednesday

(Newser) - "Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!" With that tweet, issued earlier today, Jimmy Wales revealed that Wikipedia will be joining up with Reddit, I Can Haz Cheezburger, and several other websites in their Jan. 18 protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act...

Murdoch Twitter-Attacks Obama, Google

Says president, company support 'plain thievery'

(Newser) - Rupert Murdoch came out swinging at the Obama administration and Google over the weekend, using his Twitter account to blast them for their opposition to SOPA , the pending, heavy-handed anti-piracy legislation, reports Reuters . "So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators...

SOPA Author: 'I Don't Mind Taking That On'

Lamar Smith seems unfazed by powerful opponents to piracy bill

(Newser) - Rep. Lamar Smith, author of the fiercely controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, doesn't sound like he's bothered much by the heated opposition from e-powerhouses such as Facebook, Google, Reddit, and Twitter. "It is amazing to me that the opponents apparently don't want to protect American consumers...

SOPA Author's Own Website Violated Copyright

Meanwhile, Senate author of piracy bill says it needs 'more study'

(Newser) - SOPA author Lamar Smith is being roundly mocked thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis Taete of VICE , who found that as of July, Smith's own website violated copyright, using a background image without attribution. The photo was under a Creative Commons license, so if Smith had just credited the photographer,...

Reddit Going Offline to Protest SOPA

Other sites consider doing the same

(Newser) - Reddit is doing more than just pressuring Paul Ryan and GoDaddy over the Stop Online Piracy Act : The social media forum is taking itself offline in protest. One week from today, visitors to Reddit.com will only see a message about SOPA and its threats to Internet freedom, as well...

Paul Ryan: No Way I'm Backing SOPA

Reddit pressure may have swayed Republican lawmaker

(Newser) - Read Paul Ryan's lips: He is clearly, absolutely, not supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act. Under intense pressure from Reddit to oppose SOPA, the congressman today called the Internet “one of the most magnificent expressions of freedom and free enterprise in history” and said “it should stay...

What Boycott? GoDaddy Gained Users Yesterday

But that doesn't mean 'Dump GoDaddy Day' was a lost cause

(Newser) - An impending boycott may have pushed GoDaddy to change position on SOPA, but the boycott itself didn't hurt the company much. Yesterday, the official day of the movement, GoDaddy actually saw a net increase of 20,748 domains, TechDirt reports. Indeed, GoDaddy saw almost twice as many transfers into...

Reddit's Next SOPA Target: Paul Ryan

Plus, looks like 'Dump GoDaddy Day' actually worked

(Newser) - Behold the power of Reddit: Users fuming over Paul Ryan's alleged support of a controversial online piracy bill have prompted a clarification from the congressman. "Contrary to false reports, Congressman Paul Ryan is not a cosponsor of HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act," said a rep,...

Online Piracy Bill Becomes Major Battle

Lobbyists dig in over controversial SOPA measure

(Newser) - A battle is heating up on Capitol Hill over a controversial new bill targeting online piracy. Yesterday Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other web companies took out full-page newspaper ads railing against the House’s recently introduced Stop Online Piracy Act, even as supporters sung its praises at a hearing. “...

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