We did it, guys!  We saved the Internet!  SOPA was shelved; we won.  The revolution is over.  Right?

Not so fast.

Two days after the proposed blackout (Jan. 18^th) of major websites like Reddit and Google, Lamar Smith, the main sponsor of SOPA, postponed further action on the bill in Congress soon after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did the same with PIPA.    The postponement of both bills came on the heels of a somewhat unified protest by Internet giants Google, WordPress, Mozilla, and Craisglist, amongst others.

Wikipedia and Reddit “went dark”, Google covered its logo with a black rectangle, millions of armchair activists voiced their opinions via social media and by signing online petitions, and in turn Congress backed down.  A moral victory if nothing else.

What does that really mean?

We’ve won the battle but not the war.  While SOPA and PIPA have been shelved for the time being, we need to be aware of revisions and similar bills with new names (and acronyms) that will likely surface in the coming weeks, months, and years.

“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 stated in an interview.

Markup (that’s Congress speak for “debating, amending, and rewriting proposed legislation”) for SOPA is scheduled to continue in February.  Hopefully the new bills will outline a responsible way to police online piracy while still looking out for the best interest of everyone, especially small  business.

This is beginning to feel less like a revolution and more like a revelation of what the Internet is by the majority of Congress members; you know, the responsible leaders who are writing legislation that could affect everyone who uses the Internet, who is, you know, EVERYONE.

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