The online uprising against SOPA and PIPA is being credited far and wide, even in the tradmed that reported little on the proposals, for killing the ledge. Just think of the effect this kind of activism could have on other issues:
(TimesUnion) — In the U.S., momentum against the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act and the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act, known popularly as PIPA and SOPA, grew quickly on Wednesday when the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and other Web giants staged a one-day blackout and Google organized a petition drive that attracted more than 7 million participants. That day alone, at least six senators who had co-sponsored the Senate legislation reversed their positions. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in statements at the time and again on Friday, stressed that more consensus-building was needed before the legislation would be ready for a vote.
Translation: Come on, Sony and TimeWarner, cough up some more campaign money so we can get enough congresscritters to vote for your legislation.
Billionaires created SOPA – – and fought against it – – Hollywood, MLB, NFL, NBA
in favor – – Zuckerberg, Brin & Page (Google), David Filo and Jerry Yang (Yahoo) etc., opposed
http://www.billionairechronicles.net/billionaires-split-sopa
Addendum to the translation:
… and next time we’ll do a lot more disinformation beforehand, as well as introducing the legislation piecemeal (and preferably at a time when people are focussed on something else … hmm royal weddings always work well in the UK, I’m sure we can come up with plenty of options) so fewer people pay enough attention in time.