back to article Two PROTECT IP sponsors drop support for their own bill

Two of the co-sponsors of the PROTECT IP anti-piracy bill currently working its way through Congress have dropped support for the legislation. “I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio on his Facebook page. “Furthermore, I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush …

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  1. Herby

    So maybe this "internet" thing does work

    Funny how these protests (when done) seem to have a great impact on our country's legislation. Sure it is a "big stick" but it appears that those in congress only hear money ($$'s) or a "clue-by-four" properly placed.

    Note to congress: Listen first!

    1. LarsG

      Its all to do with votes

      So they are just protecting themselves come the next election.

      96% against the legislation

      3% for the legislation

      1% too stupid to make a decision

      In view of this will good old Obama veto this poor excuse of legal ****?

      It's all toooooo dooooo with votes!

      1. Ru
        Holmes

        "Its all to do with votes"

        Not *all*.

        It is to do with striking a balance between the desires of those who bankrolled your political career, and the grumbles of the poor schmucks who actually voted you in to office. This is a very rare instance of the latter outweighing the former.

    2. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      Hitting the Road ... on Wild Ride Tracks

      "So maybe this "internet" thing does work " ...... Herby Posted Wednesday 18th January 2012 21:03 GMT

      You're 99% on the right hack and true crack there, Herby.

      The Magic Trick in any Great Game is then to have the internet thing working with and for you to protect and server , succour and nurture to the whole.

  2. NoneSuch Silver badge

    Cockroaches scatter when you flip on the light as well.

    1. C 2
      Thumb Up

      Now if we can just

      ...get a good boycott started against this idiotic Windows 8 Secure Boot UEFI firmware extension crap.

      Its plain as day if anyone cares to notice that Micros~1 is attempting to squeeze out Linux and any other competition .. so business as usual.

      Oh and this PIPA atrocity needs to be slammed to the floor and stomped out of existence.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So much for those whining in the comments here and elsewhere that the protests would achieve nothing. They fail to realise that politicians are the worst kind of self serving scum that think nothing of dumping their so called ideals if it starts to look like they could lose votes.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Aawww, ain't that cute!

    It warms my heart to see those politicians coming to their senses.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sense?

      John Cornyn? Sense? I think not.

      Expedience, maybe, but that guy don't have 2 brain cells to rub together, let alone "sense".

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Spineless

    "and while the White House has indicated its unhappiness with the bills as they stand, the President isn’t committing to a veto"

    Spineless. The veto exists for a reason. It should be used to block idiotic crud rushed through the House and Senate.

    /Anon for obvious reasons.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Because it's an election year

      Why would anyone wanna rock the boat when it's an election year?

      Wreck the internet to win the presidency from the lobbying entertainment industry.

      I don't disagree with the intent, I have a problem with implementation and scope.

    2. Tom 13

      You overlook the obvious point:

      Despite all his rhetoric about "the little people," most of The Big 0's campaign contributions come from the people supporting the bills. It makes no sense to piss them off by taking a stand you don't need to take.

  6. (AMPC) Anonymous and mostly paranoid coward
    Gimp

    I love the smell of free speech in the morning.....

    I've spent most of the day on the CBS (yes CBS) web site, reading and watching commentary and trying to inject some sense into the debate. I had a lot of company, a lot of it sensible. It is re-assuring to know that multiple commentards and ordinary people can still make a difference. Hopefully this will become an object lesson in internet democracy and encourage more right-thinking people to do more of the same and more often. Even the MPAA is starting to quiet down. They'll probably ask for their money back.

    So what's next? On-line voting anyone? On line, traceable campaign donations to our favorite politicians? Vive la transparence!

    BTW, I link you to a great (if a little long) video on copyright and why it is broken. Worth a look.

    http://videoskillet.blogspot.com/2009/01/copyright-or-copywrong.html

    Seriously, it was great to see what can happen when the technosphere gets a little irate and then works together. Maybe we won't have to keep forever bending over after all,

    I also noticed that people on various sites seemed to enjoy slamming Wikipedia for its "political" statement (twitter's boss comes to mind). But quite frankly, Jimbo's decision to go off the air (along with many others) probably made a lot of "mainstream" news sites sit up, grow a pair and finally talk about SOPA. Good on you Jimbo, even if your site's articles do contain the odd misquote...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm usually not much of a Jimbo/Wiki fan

      ...but they really seemed to make today what it was. Nothing against Reddit and the rest, but a lot of the sites involved with the blackout were "preaching to the choir" (i.e. their users were already well aware of this situation) but Wikipedia is mainstream enough to really get noticed. Good on them, and the rest too of course

      : )

    2. OMGROFLSKATES
      Stop

      ██ ████████ ██████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ .███ ███ This comment has been found in violation of H.R. 3261, S.O.P.A and has been removed.

  7. Quxy
    FAIL

    fscking weasels, the lot of 'em

    That is all.

    1. LaeMing

      I was going to call weasel-words on them

      But I am terribly afraid of being atacked by a mob of weasels taking offence at being compared to politicians.

  8. K. Adams
    Childcatcher

    Every little bit of news like this helps...

    Even so, one would have to be living under a rock to not realise that these three Senators' collective about-face isn't anything other than an act of political self-interest against the backdrop of election year politics.

    1. (AMPC) Anonymous and mostly paranoid coward
      Thumb Up

      We need all the help we can get

      Couldn't agree with your more K. But as long as they figuratively and publicly piss on SOPA's corpse it's OK for me. If this internet protest thing catches on some of these guys might even need to find a new line of work.... MPAA CEO job could be up for grabs sooon....we can only hope.

  9. Darryl

    I'm just wondering if they'll have to return the boats and trips and briefcases full of money to the ??AAs

  10. Drew V.
    Devil

    Let us hope...

    ...that the reason for the Senators changing their mind has nothing to do with being bought o...I mean, "receiving perfectly legal but unexpected campaign contributions from powerful industry players that just happen to be opposed to SOPA".

    If such perfectly legal contributions have been received, then it is not impossible that there is quite a hole in the so-called "public relations budget" of the Chocolate Factory this year...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Forgive me for being cynical

    But this is hardly a win. Similar bills and legislation will be back - more stupid acronyms, possibly subtler too. That's if these bills are even dead yet.

    Nothing's actually changed. At the moment the MAFIAA are still free to roam the web with extreme prejudice and have content taken down using DMCA requests and threatening tactics.

    Why do these rats, who know nothing about how the internet works, have Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, granted to them freely by the very websites that are and would be affected by their blundering incompetence?

    What's needed is for some tech companies to grow some real balls. Start blocking these politicians' accounts with extreme prejudice - kick them off the internets where they don't belong. When they receive complaints, do what the MAFIAA do, stonewall then say "Oops, my bad". Hit the assholes with false DMCA requests - this is supposed to be a punishable offence, but as the MAFIAA demonstrate, there is rarely any comeback.

    1. (AMPC) Anonymous and mostly paranoid coward
      Gimp

      Hmmm.... so tempting but so counter-productive

      I disagree, It is much better to publicly embarrass these poor, misguided public servants with hard facts and questions like "Don't you think there is enough bad copyright legislation out there already?" and then prove it. Start by informing and letting the man in the street learn and read about the grandmas and college kids getting gang-raped by Hollywood's rapacious legal teams. Let citizens learn, read, comment and then make up their own minds at election time. Shooting these lackeys like fish in a barrel with MPAA gutter tactics is both unsporting and undignified. It is much better and more satisfying to make them squirm under the harsh light of truth.... Besides, a few well placed commentards (and 10,000 web sites) are worth nearly a batallion of lobbyists, or at least they were today.... so rock on....the truth might just set us all free.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      So, your answer is exactly the type of censorship and abuse of process the people protesting PIPA & SOPA are so worried about?

      1. C 2
        Flame

        The anser is to ...

        show these idiots what they are doing the the rest of the world.

        Businesses and Internet sites for that matter have the RIGHT to refuse to do business with anyone for any reason, at least in the US. So no this is not censorship. This would be exercising one's rights.

        These organizations and politicians who are so accustomed to stomping all over everyone else's rights to further whatever greedy goals they've got .. its time they got a taste of what they have been dishing out.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

  12. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Flame

    "Stealing content is theft, plain and simple"

    Holy cancerigenic tautology Batman!!!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here it comes again!

    First the bloody RIAA tries bullying thousands with threats of per ^B^Brosecution, now we have the MPAA trying to get the US government to do the bullying for them.

    Enough! Time to put the fear of the people in them! Boycott a movie on Friday!

    Anon? Damn right!

  14. kain preacher

    Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has been active on Twitter today, and this afternoon he notified his followers that he opposes the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) while implying that SOPA is somehow supported by or the fault of President Obama.

    Wow are you sure you wantto give Obama credit for this. Great for his re election campaign

  15. Arctic fox
    WTF?

    Fascinating. They aren't even honest whores, they don't stay bought.

    Oh and as for the attempt to explain away why they have decided to shit themselves and run by saying the SOPA is all Obama's fault, one can only say "lame, very very lame". What an unedifying bunch of time-severs and crooks.

  16. Mikel
    Devil

    They haven't given up

    They know we can't do this every day. They will lay low until the fight is down. The only safe course is to recall them all.

  17. This post has been deleted by its author

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If only in China...

    ...the netizens were as passionate as their American counterparts. But of course they would be if they were granted the same freedom of speech online to begin with. I wish the world would unite against oppressors of freedom of speech here in China. Then again... It is better than North Korea, right?

    As it stands, I am not even sure I can 'submit' this post as it has the words 'China', 'free speech' and 'freedom' in it.

  19. Qu Dawei
    Unhappy

    hoodwinked

    We are all bystanders thinking we are somehow relevant to these actions: they seem to me to be merely outwardly visible manouvres involving these:

    (a) big business attempts to shore up failing busines models to extract enough cash from the people before they all go under for failing to adapt;

    (b) the effects of money on the so-called "land of the free", its legislative bodies, and its judiciary, so that "free" means "free if you have thepower, the greenbacks and the right contacts".

    (c) the desperate attempts at chicanery by third-rate politicians who are deperate to still have their grasp on power after elections that are looming.

    The ordinary people here are just like some farmland crops or livestock to be harvested at will to these immoral money-raking conglmerates; we do not matter so long as we are kept in the dark and fed on manure just enough to keep the money rolling in, and that we do not try to stop their ability to wield power and influence over us. Freedom, openess, and rights mean nothing to them if they are to be applied to anyone other than themselves.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let me correct that for you

    “SOPA: better to get this done right rather than fast and wrong. Copying content is Copyright Infringement, plain and simple, but concerns about unintended damage to the internet and innovation in the tech sector require a more thoughtful balance, which will take more time,” he posted.

  21. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Big Brother

    A good result but remeber Lenin

    "Push the bayonet in. If there is fat. push harder. If there is muscle pull back"

    The "sponsors" (I don't mean the sock puppets of the Legislative branch but the people doing the briefing and the paying) of this bill will be back. Perhaps a little better disguised. Perhaps slipping in a few clauses to a bill that can't be blocked (The "Magic Inc" ploy).

    The price of freedom does not have to be eternal vigilance but Big Media should consider what happened to the buggy whip makers of the horse era.

    Lets agree that people who *create* stuff should be rewarded (rather than those who *manufacture* or package the hardware IE the disks, tapes or films of yesteryear, which seemed to be a key part of the DMCA) and organisations that seek to make money from their work should reward them. The alternate position is that "thinking" is worthless, which does not make a lot of sense to me.

    Let's make that the *default* position. If someone then *knowingly* chooses to give their copyright to the universe that is *their* decision, but they must be *aware* of what they are doing.

    These do not seem absurd utopian ideas to me but beyond that everything gets *lots* harder.

    1. crowley

      "disguised"

      Maybe they'll bundle it with the "Don't Drown Kittens Act" to highlight objector's moral character!

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Vacuous shit

    "The right to free speech is one of the most basic foundations that makes our nation great, and I strongly oppose sanctioning Americans’ right to free speech"

    Fucking hell I hate it when American politicians start spouting that crap! I watched Mit Romney doing exactly that a fortnight ago on the news, and to me it says a) I'm shamelessly tarting to the lowest common denominator of red-neck voter, and b) I haven't anything more intelligent or honest to actually talk about!

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