SOPA, designed to combat digital piracy and copyright infringement, has been considered dangerous to the foundations of the Internet by many in the Internet and technology communities. As originally written, the bill would have blocked DNS requests for websites considered to be hosting content illegally.
SOPA’s interference with the DNS system, which is a sort of phone book for the Internet, was considered particularly onerous by the legislation’s detractors.
“After consultation with industry groups across the country,” SOPA author Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said in a statement released by his office, “I feel we should remove DNS-blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the [U.S. House Judiciary] Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision.”
The change will be considered a victory for SOPA opponents. Google, Facebook and Twitter announced their opposition to SOPA in a public letter published in November of last year.
GoDaddy, an Internet domain registration service, experienced a severe public backlash when it announced it was in favor of the legislation.
Smith isn’t giving up the fight against online piracy, though. “We will continue to look for ways to ensure that foreign Web sites cannot sell and distribute illegal content to U.S. consumers,” Smith added. “Congress must address the widespread problem of online theft of America’s technology and products from foreign thieves.”
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the author of the Protect IP Act (PIPA), also said in a separate statement he would be taking out the portions of his bill designed for DNS blocking and redirection Thursday. PIPA is SOPA’s sister bill in the Senate.
An anti-SOPA protest is still planned for New York next Wednesday afternoon.
Are you glad the DNS blocking and redirecting portion of SOPA is gone? Let us know in the comments below.
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