There is a great article up on The Verge on how lobbyists will determine the fate of SOPA.
In case you are unfamiliar with SOPA, here is an introduction from Wikipedia.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Presented to the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.
The article at The Verge is a great read and gives you a good insight of what is going on with SOPA.
I quickly learned that our elected officials are not demigods solely focused on the collective good — they’re just people. To inflate them into anything else trivializes their real accomplishments at best, and blinds us from the reality of Congress at worst. Lawmakers may have their own parochial interests or lofty causes, but first and foremost they’re always looking for votes. To get votes, they need attention and money — something that corporate lobbyists can dish out in abundance. The end product of this system is lawmaking that’s less about making good public policy and more about appeasing the hands that feed — as a result, powerful corporations with deep pockets gain unparalleled access to members of Congress, and they help set the agenda. That agenda is why bills like SOPA and PIPA gain such traction — they were delivered to Congress in return for money and votes.
It seems that this is going to come down to who has the most money. And that’s going to be the entertainment industry. I’ve heard a lot of people today complain about the possibility of SOPA being passed, I wonder though, how many of those people have taken the small step of calling their representatives in Washington? I’ve given a lot of thought lately about complacency. About accepting things as they are. If we’re good with how things are going and everything looks OK to us, we often let things slide. Don’t let this slide. It will be too late.
