TorrentFreak

The place where breaking news, BitTorrent and copyright collide

SOPA Is Baaaack!

sopaThat didn’t take long.

A few days ago the news broke that the pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was put on hold until consensus was reached.

Although the announcement was rather vague, some news sites and blogs declared SOPA dead, or “shelved,” or erased from history.

Wishful thinking, because today SOPA is back in full force.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith just announced that the SOPA markup is expected to continue next month.

“To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America’s intellectual property, we will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to find ways to combat online piracy,” Chairman Smith said.

“Due to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February.

“I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American jobs and protects intellectual property.”

Update: SOPA / PIPA co-sponsors drop like flies.

This post is from the News Bits section of TorrentFreak where we present stories from around the web in a concise summary format. Full TorrentFreak articles can be found here. If you have a tip please let us know. News Bits have their very own RSS feed
  • Mediaget
  • Download Torrents with BTguard

NewsBits

The latest news from around the web, not covered on the frontpage

  • Dutch Parliament Rejects ACTA On Human Rights Violations

    The controversial ACTA treaty is quickly losing support in Europe. After a handful of countries already...

  • ACTA Anti-Piracy Treaty Criticized by EU Parliament President

    Following the massive protests against ACTA yesterday, EU Parliament President Martin Schulz criticized the treaty on...

  • FilePorn Adult Torrent Site Joins Cheggit, Shuts Down

    FilePorn, one of the longest standing adult BitTorrent trackers, has called it quits. After more than...

  • RIAA: “Misinformation May Be a Dirty Trick, But It Works.”

    For years the RIAA has tried to convince the world that piracy is killing musicians. Supported...

  • Russia’s Largest BitTorrent Tracker Under Huge DDoS Attack

    RUTracker, Russia’s largest BitTorrent tracker, has been dealing with the effects of a DDoS attack over...

MostDiscussed

Below are TorrentFreak's most discussed articles of the past month. Join the discussion if you like.

CopyQuote

Left Quote

“The Pirate Bay has been one of the most important movements in Sweden for freedom of speech, working against corruption and censorship.

Peter Sunde Left Quote

RecommendedArticles

A selection of some TorrentFreak's classics dug up from our archives.