SOPA IS DEAD! SOPA IS DEAD!!!!!!!

[lokifan]

I WAS JUST PREPARING A MASSIVE POST FULL OF LINKS AND RAGE AND USEFUL INFO AND NOW IT IS ALL USELESS

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY, EVER, TO HAVE WASTED SOME TIME

SOPA IS DEAD!

Read the news here!

Obviously more activism will be needed in coming days and weeks and months and years. But just look at that, guys, and enjoy!

Comments

[damerell]

Hopefully it'll stay dead if the stinking Republicans get in...

[lokifan]

I doubt it. But we'll fight it then, too. And either way - while these laws give me the creeping horrors (and the blinding outrage) SOPA is stupid as well as evil. Not having to worry about it passing right now feels like a victory to me!

[crunchysunrises]

It's not dead, it's on hold. There's a huge difference between the two in American politics.

Few bills are summarily killed simply because of all the time, effort, schmoozing and deal-making that goes into them. That's not even counting all of the aides and sub-committees that proposed legislation has to get through in order to become a bill.

Putting it on hold means that they can vote on it at a later date... when the public isn't watching them so carefully, for instance. Or the bill's sponsors can rework the bills to make them "less offensive" and put them through again. (But that's also a pain because it has to go through some of the vetting process again.)

To be honest, internet petitions probably don't mean a lot to most senators and representatives because most of them are too old to really understand the internet or "the Facebook" or whatever. What they do understand is that election season is coming up. A third of the Senate, the president and the entirety of the House of Representatives are up for re-election on November 6, 2012. Now isn't the time to do anything wildly unpopular.

After the elections, the legislative branch may have an entirely different tune.

[lokifan]

Huh. I must have been fooled by the politicians saying 'dead' :) I mean obviously a version of it will come back, that's why I said in the post more activism will be needed. But I am pleased they said they'll be fiddling with it, even if obviously I hope and intend to see it never passed.

And yeah, haha, I don't think internet petitions are what got it done. They were a part of it, I'm sure, but still.

But you know what? I am still okay with taking time to celebrate this, because it is a victory, and a big one.

FYI: yes, I studied American politics at school, I know who's up for re-election when :)

[crunchysunrises]

The news (and in some cases, "news") providers in the U.S. keep using the word "dead" but I can't help but notice that the politicians themselves are using variations on the word "postponed" and variations on the theme "haste makes waste."

It's the sort of victory that needs to be reinforced by people's decisions in the voting booth but, alas, most Americans don't vote. And a lot of us don't know who's up for re-election when. It's... actually really sad.

[lokifan]

Oh dear :S

I mean, I definitely think that a fixed-up bill is a lot better than SOPA, although obvs no bill is best. (Well, as things stand. I might think differently if I had any trust in the US government to do this properly or to not trample over other nations.) But. Yeah.

:((( Same over here in the UK, and yes, so sad. In a sense the timing might be a good for the campaign though - maybe once the "register to vote" and "now go and vote" drives start, the reminder that "this is where you wield actual power over the people you were petitioning" will help.

*incurable optimist*

[jack]

I feel a temporary rush of relief. What bothers me is that some activism is positive (eg. some people get more human rights), but a lot is negative (everything was fine, please stop taking away human rights!) And then every time you win, you've just maintained the status quo, and the government keeps saying "Oh hey, we're going to pass another deliberately stupid bill that compleltely invalidates a whole parcel of human rights? Oh, why are you protesting, are you all stupid, we didn't really mean it this time, it was never going to pass?" and then dropping it, and then going the same thing again and people get numb :(

[lokifan]

I think that's kind of true. However, for now the bill's dead, and that's enough. Besides which, not everybody gets numb, the internet is actually a good place for activism in my experience, and the public exposure on the bill and the protests has been big. I do think that while we need to worry and fight, on the whole? Victory is ours :)