Updated 2:15 pm PT
When we last heard of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, it was being carted away to the federal legislation junk heap, along with a sister bill, PIPA, the Protect IP Act, two bills killed by public pressure and an Internet blackout by Wikipedia and some other websites.
One website says that a new piracy bill will reappear as part of a broader cybersecurity bill to be proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Details about the bill are "shrouded in secrecy," says The Daily Caller. "The expected bill is the latest attempt by the Democrats to broadly expand the authority of executive branch agencies over the Internet."
"It could not be more false," said Adam Jentleson, communications director for Reid, in response to questions from msnbc.com. "That's not going to happen."
Nextgov, a site that covers "technology and the business of government" also disputes the Daily Caller report.
"In the last couple of days, a number of blogs and stories have popped up questioning whether the Senate cybersecurity legislation to be introduced next week incorporates the ill-fated SOPA/PIPA legislation or is somehow going to harm the Internet as many claimed SOPA/PIPA would," writes Jessica Herrera-Flanigan of Nextgov.
Herrera-Flanigan writes she has "reviewed drafts of the cybersecurity bill ... And, quite simply, the proposed cybersecurity legislation is no SOPA/PIPA."
The two bills, supported mainly by the entertainment industry, were aimed at stopping illegal downloading and streaming of movies and TV shows. But many in the tech world — including giants Google and Facebook — said the legislation would have let federal authorities shut down portions of the Internet without due process, and fundamentally alter the Internet's ability to provide a platform for free speech.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and Comcast/NBC Universal. Comcast/NBC Universal was listed as a supporter of SOPA on the House Judiciary Committee website. Microsoft opposed SOPA as it was drafted.)
— via Gizmodo
Related stories:
- Post SOPA, it's time to protest ACTA (on Feb. 11)
- Congress withdraws SOPA, PIPA anti-piracy measure
- Red Tape: As Google, Wikipedia join protest, SOPA opponents gain momentum
- Google protests SOPA on home page
- Wikipedia goes dark on piracy bill protest day
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