Some reasons have began to emerge on why the America’s
proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and Protect IP Act (PIPA) were taken
off the chart of the United States Congress at the weekend.
ITRealms Online gathered from industry observers that the
number of protests recorded both online and offline have remained steady
following the escalation of the protest beyond
the America.
Also, Internet enthusiasts have continued to gain more and
more support from their colleagues across the world, it was imminent that the
two bills would cause more harm than good.
The stepped up protest against SOPA and PIPA were recently
heightened with the blank websites display of Wikipedia, Google and WordPress
to name a few.
Reuters reports that the United States’ lawmakers decided to
stop the anti-piracy legislation, last Friday following unprecedented protest
by online companies and Internet Service Providers, especially in the States
against the bills known at the Senate as PIPA and House of Representatives as
SOPA.
The report quoted Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid as
saying that he decided to postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for
Tuesday, January 24 “in light of recent events.”
Also, the Republican chairman of the House of
Representatives Judiciary Committee, Mr. Lamar Smith, followed suit, saying his
panel would delay action on similar legislation until there is wider agreement
on the issue.
“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,” Smith said in a statement.
The bills, known as PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the
House, were aimed at curbing access to overseas websites on alleged traffic in
pirated content and counterfeit products, such as movies and music.
ITRealms Online gathered that the legislation has been a
priority for entertainment companies, publishers, pharmaceutical companies and
other industry groups who see it as critical to curbing online piracy, which
they believed costs them billions of dollars annually.
On the other hand, technology companies are concerned the
laws would likely undermine Internet freedoms, be difficult to enforce and
encourage frivolous lawsuits.
Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
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