Activists Celebrate Anniversary of SOPA/PIPA Demise

One year since Web blackout helped turn Congress against antipiracy bills

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/18/2013 10:12:32 AM

Some Internet activists and opponents of recent congressional attempts to pass antipiracy legislation were celebrating on Friday.

That is because it is the one-year anniversary of the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act. Technically, it is the anniversary of the Web blackout protest (Jan. 20 was the date Congress tabled the House bill and its Protect IP Act [PIPA] complement in the Senate). That protest included Google, Craigslist and Wikipedia.

"We are grateful that one year ago today Internet users, along with public interest groups and Internet companies, halted extreme copyright legislation that would have altered and harmed the Internet," said Computer & Communications Industry Association president and CEO Ed Black in a statement. "Once even a piece of Internet freedom is lost, it is hard to get it back."

Black suggested the fight for those pieces of the Internet was not over. "While there is an overwhelming realization on Capitol Hill, thanks to the SOPA defeat, that measures that tinker with how the Internet works can have collateral damage, we expect those pushing for extreme copyright enforcement measures will try again."