Thread: SOPA Delayed – But Not For Long

The extremely unpopular SOPA bill was supposed to be the last order of business today as the House Judiciary Committee prepared to break for the holidays, but a parade of objections and amendments (over 50) kept the bill in discussion and at last the committee adjourned without resolving the issues.

What was expected in this contingency was for the committee to resume work whenever the House reconvenes in January. After all, with such controversial and far-reaching legislation, it is better to take one’s time. But no: the committee has announced it will continue markup this coming Wednesday, the 21st of December.

Very few of the suggestions by opponents have been heeded, and the chairman, Lamar Smith (R-Texas), demonstrated his contempt for these concerns with the following words, which I am sorry to say make me very angry:

I am pleased that the unfounded claims of critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act have overwhelmingly been rejected by a majority of House Judiciary Committee members. The criticism of this bill is completely hypothetical; none of it is based in reality. Not one of the critics was able to point to any language in the bill that would in any way harm the Internet. Their accusations are simply not supported by any facts.

This casual, smirking dismissal of the objections from people who are more informed than himself, and which unlike the media lobbyists and other proponents have little to gain from their advocacy, is distressing. The only place the committee seemed willing to make a change was holding off on some of the bill’s portions until a study could be made on the potential effects to DNS and other critical systems. Smith said he would consider a briefing.

It’s telling how badly the bill’s supporters want this thing to go through that they’re willing to come in right in the middle of the holidays to do work that could easily be done a few weeks from now. We’ll follow up on Wednesday, when the bill is likely to be approved and sent on to the House.

I don't think we'll ever hear of this again. Usually when the committee convenes, that's it and the bill's author will have to rewrite and propose a whole new bill, all the way from the first step again. This is the most common way to kill a bill....just ignore it and it goes away forever. In my state there was a bill I really wanted to pass a few years back. The bill was approved the whole way up to the senate...when they didn't vote on it by the end of the session, it never passed and we never heard another thing about it.

What about all the petition signature against SOPA, shouldn't congress take those into account because that the majority and not the congressmen.

Originally Posted by tanya21

What about all the petition signature against SOPA, shouldn't congress take those into account because that the majority and not the congressmen.

they don't need to. the session has ended, therefore the bill is dead. It will not pass, and the person who wrote the bill will have to resubmit it and start from scratch.

Originally Posted by Lightyear

they don't need to. the session has ended, therefore the bill is dead. It will not pass, and the person who wrote the bill will have to resubmit it and start from scratch.

I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch:

But no: the committee has announced it will continue markup this coming Wednesday, the 21st of December.

It's not a dead bill yet!

aw man :( I'll bet this doesn't make the floor, though, before the 2011 session ends....and if it does, lobbyists will fight it tooth and nail, and that will stay the bill for as long as it takes for the session to end. I've ignored this bill because I'm confident nothing will happen with it

besides, it's only in the judicial branch....it still needs house, senate, and presidential approval. This bill is as good as dead!!! Rejoice, PS3iso...you got an early xmas present

guy The Sopa hearing got delayed till next year of january it was going to continue tomorrow bit got postponed Dont Let Your Guard Down please continue to call email fax anything possible to stop this bill from passing And Protect IP act heres the link with the update on it got postponed SOPA hearing delayed until the new year as petition signatures top 25k -- Engadget and heres another youtube link talking about it WTF is SOPA ? aka The American Government trying to ruin the internet - YouTube

SOPA IS off til 2012 and got email by avaaz obama will oppose it. tmrw meet has been CANCELED. Tomorrow's SOPA Hearing Has Been Cancelled

Originally Posted by glenrich9908

SOPA IS off til 2012 and got email by avaaz obama will oppose it. tmrw meet has been CANCELED. Tomorrow's SOPA Hearing Has Been Cancelled

Now, that's good news! This should now back Lightyear & his claims of a dead bill. Once it's ended before the 2011 session then it's more than likely done! This is some news we were looking for!

Originally Posted by tonybologna

Now, that's good news! This should now back Lightyear & his claims of a dead bill. Once it's ended before the 2011 session then it's more than likely done! This is some news we were looking for!

:D I've been studying how bills pass and how long they take in each step for about the last 10 years...I'm getting pretty good at picking the ones that will die before they get anywhere by now