Last Updated on: 3rd June 2020, 09:08 am
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about SOPA here, but in that time it hasn’t left the news. People have kept up the fight, letting government and industry know at every turn that the bill isn’t good for America or the rest of the world. And today, government listened!
In response to online petitions against the SOPA legislation, the President said even though he sees online piracy from foreign websites as a problem, he won’t support any bill that erodes freedom of speech or expression, or that potentially threatens online security.
“Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small,” White House spokesman Macon Phillips said. He added, “We will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”
The bill has also been dropped by Congress.
for now good sense has won the day, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. There’s still PIPA to contend with, which is almost if not just as bad. And just because it’s dead now, it’s no sure thing that SOPA won’t raise its ugly head again in a different form. We can hope it doesn’t, but if it does, let’s make sure we fight it again, and do so even harder than before.
