SOPA ‘On Hold’ in Face of Massive Public Opposition

Officials Say 'Compromise' Now Likely on Bill

Faced with massive public opposition this week and a number of Congressmen abandoning their previous support of the bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate counterpart PIPA have both been put on hold.

Both PIPA and SOPA had been expected to have some Congressional action next week, and the PIPA procedural vote for Tuesday has been postponed indefinitely in the face of a number of Senators, including several PIPA co-sponsors, announcing their opposition.

Still and all, Congressional leadership seems to be hoping the storm blows over, and Rep. Lamar Smith (R – TX), the initial sponsor of SOPA, said he still expects the bill to pass ocne there is more time to gain Congressional support.

In the Senate, officials say compromise is now “likely,” despite indications just two days ago that there was very little chance of the sides finding any sort of middle ground. Exactly how there will be compromise with trade groups that insist the bill is already flawless and that public critics are “dangerous” to democracy is not at all clear, and the most likely scenario is the Congress simply waiting out the protests and passing a virtually identical bill under a different name.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.