SOPA and PIPA Are Down But Here Comes OPEN

Last Friday (January 20), Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) halted further legislative action on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Smith made this public hours after Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) said he would delay movement on the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the Senate.

According to The Washington Post the bills were meant to address piracy on websites outside the US. But critics argued "the legislation gives the federal government too much power to take control of websites and amounts to a form of Internet censorship."

After numerous sites staged usage blackouts last Wednesday protesting SOPA and PIPA, Smith released a statement. “I have heard from the critics, and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.” 

Almost immediately after lawmakers eased away from SOPA/PIPA legislation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shut down Megaupload, a popular site for hosting files.

eWeek wrote "Megaupload was "exactly" the type of website SOPA and PIPA advocates had in mind when the bills were drafted, according to Neil Roiter, research director at Corero Network Security." Roiter's comments were in reference to the large amount of pirated information on the site.

But legitimate users "were distraught by the shutdown. They took to Twitter to demand their files back, highlighting the fact that when data is stored on a third-party's servers, they don't have control over it."

In what appears to be the next chapter of this story, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced H.R. 3782, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) last Wednesday (January 18). Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the act in the US Senate. PC World reported Issa feels "the new bill delivers stronger intellectual property rights for American artists and innovators while protecting the openness of the Internet."

Specifically, the act focuses on foreign based sites, has an appeals process, and targets sites that "willfully" violate copyright law. Also, this law would give the International Trade Commission (ITC) oversight instead of the Department of Justice (DOJ).