• Maria: We can’t afford to rush an Internet policy that could trample on our innovation economy

Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Legislation giving the U.S. Justice Department and entertainment companies sweeping powers to combat intellectual piracy has, for the moment, been consigned to Davy Jones’ Locker.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chief sponsor of the Stop Intellectual Piracy Act (SOPA) pulled the plug on a scheduled markup and said he would “wait until three is wider agreement” before trying again.

Blocking the legislation is a victory for activists who mounted a massive protest across the Internet on Wednesday.

It engaged big players like Wikipedia and Google — worried at the power to shut down websites — but also local activists like Seattle’s Dorsol Plants, who substituted an anti-SOPA message for his Facebook picture.

“Citizens and grassroots activists led, the Internet companies followed: Prior to the protests, the number of people who knew about this legislation was very, very small,” said Andrew Villeneuve, director of the Redmond-based Northwest Progressive Institute, which made its website go black during Wednesday’s protest.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed, D-Nevada, called off a vote, scheduled for next Tuesday, to cut off debate on a Senate version of the bill, called the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

Read the whole article »