SOPA's Dead, What Now?
It almost feels like a waste at this point to spend too much time talking about the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, at least in its present incarnation, only because it's pretty much dead in the water -- as is its counterpart, the Protect Intellectual Property Act. An astonishing display of power this week by what seemed like the entire Internet has rendered the whole proposition radioactive, with members of Congress who were all gung-ho about the measures just a few days ago quietly backing away from them, the White House giving it a thumbs-down and, as of today, the Senate announcing that it's canceling a vote on PIPA and will completely redraft SOPA. Depending on which side of the fence you're on, this is either a huge victory for online freedom or a knee-jerk reaction by lawmakers cowering in the darkness of an unprecedented digital blackout, but the fact is that it was necessary -- because both measures amounted to a distressing overreach by both the government a