How social media changed Congress’ mind in just one day – #STOPSOPA

20Jan Manoj Internet, Social Media No comments

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a U.S. House bill to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Proposals include barring advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with allegedly infringing websites, barring search engines from linking to the sites, and requiring Internet service providers (ISP) to block access to the sites. The bill would also criminalize the streaming of such content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

On January 18, 2012, marked the online protest of SOPA and PIPA: two similar pieces of legislation threatening the Internet. This #STOPSOPA infographic depicts how the people and social media changed Congress’ mind in just one day.

The Internet Wins: SOPA Is Dead -

Texas Rep. Lamar Smith shelved his terrible internet-destroying Stop Online Piracy Act today after the internet’s week-long anti-SOPA freakout.

“I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Smith said in a statement. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.” Smith was last seen wandering the halls of Congress, shell-shocked, softly humming “Friday” to himself while muttering, “The memes… they came from the internet… my god… the memes…”