SOPA Shelved After Obama Announcement

Opponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act, California congressman Darrell Issa noted today that he'd been told by House majority leader Eric Cantor that there would be no vote on SOPA "unless there is consensus on the bill," this essentially shelving the project until further notice. This move "effectively scuppers" SOPA, as the Guardian notes, and puts pressure on the next most notorious bill regarding these matters, the e-Parasite act, as it comes to a vote on January 24th. This is the victory we've been waiting for, folks, unless you're a big media company that hoped to mis-use the bill, of course.

Issa continued by noting that "While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House." This is, again, a decisive victory for not only those opponents of the bill in Washington, but the masses of internet groups that came out to oppose the bill and its flawed bits allowing companies to shut down webpages at the crack of a whip. You can view the full continuum of events surrounding this situation in our timeline below.

Meanwhile do not think to yourself that this is the end of such legislature. The powers that be will continue to try to move through congress, the house, and the president to bring about a bill that'll allow big business to censor the internet. It sounds too absurd to be true, but the possibility is there – know it, and fight against it.

[Image via Haibane]