Obama Killed SOPA For Now

Wednesday January 18th, 2012 was a huge day of protest around the web as anti-SOPA support swept into the Internet community. Websites like Wikipedia and Google went on a “blackout” to show their support to the movement that took place in the same day that the House Judiciary Committee hearing was scheduled in Washington DC.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP were created to fight online piracy by preventing US search engines like Google and Yahoo from directing their users to websites that distribute stolen contents. Companies will be able to sue for any copyright infringement. President Obama has stated that he’s against both bills and therefore will not show support and this killed SOPA for now, putting pressure on senators for the coming January 24th, where legislation of the Protect IP is scheduled to go before the senate.

The White House stated:

“Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing. We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.”

The debate is far from over. Do you think President Obama made the right decision?

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