Wednesday, January 18, 2012

PIPA: A Change Of Heart

If you think that public pressure on an issue never has an effect on the minds of legislators, here's proof that you're wrong, courtesy of the Twitter feed of U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch:
After listening to the concerns on both sides of the debate over the PROTECT IP Act, it is simply not ready for prime time.

Twitter message from @OrrinHatch

That’s why I will not only vote against moving the bill forward next week but also remove my cosponsorship of the bill.

Twitter message from @OrrinHatch
Of course, there are a number of big players involved in this campaign, like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Those firms have far more influence than ordinary citizens. Still, part of any effective political strategy is to find allies, and this is no exception. Those companies' reasons for opposing the legislation are different from ours, but they benefit from a free Internet, too.


2 comments:

Amelie said...

Did you see the news stations point out how many Reps are using copyrighted photos on their sites without user permission?

I'm afraid this is like the Pipeline decision - temporary. The idiots will probably slip SOPA into some education reform bill. But for now, we just need to keep the pressure up. Well reported.

Cujo359 said...

No, I had not. It doesn't surprise me, though. I think the group Heart has had to complain twice to different presidential candidates about using one of their songs. McCain was the more recent one.

In DC, "do as I say, not as I do" isn't their motto, but it could be.