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). Thatprotest 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."
