http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-14/white-house-won-t-support-internet-censorship-in-online-anti-piracy-bills.html

Among the bits of good news:

The White House is reaching out to the opponents of the bill amongst the public (e.g. those who have signed countless internet petitions against the bill)

Lamar Smith (champion of SOPA, head of House Judiciary Committee) has called for removal of the bill's worst provision, the one that would require ISPs to block offending sites from coming in to America

The White House has stated opposition to the bill

The Republican Controlled Government Oversight Committee in Congress calls the bill (even after the changes!) "fundamentally flawed"

What once seemed inevitable now seems like it won't be that big a deal on the off chance that it passes, or what does pass will be so watered-down as to be ineffective

This thing is toast.

So all our fears of an unfree internet were in vain?

Yes and no. It is precisely because we were afraid that the fears have become vain. If people (like me, i'll admit) hadn't been screaming about the end of the world and making people aware, who knows what could have happened? People freaked out, and politicians don't like it when people freak out

I wish SOPA to vanish. Bye bye SOPA.

It's good to see a bill that challenges the freedom of the internet go under, but there is still the huge problem of piracy that has to be addressed. Those who steal content on the internet must be held accountable and punished for their crimes. Law makers just need to find a more palatable way to achieve this.

I'd be interested to see a cross section of politicians beliefs on IP laws and their age.

IP laws are one of those weird issues that don't seem to break down by party... and I think largely is based on well... oldness.

Kinda like IP cases which are all over the place because half the judges don't even know how to use a computer. Like the Judge in the Sony vs Hotz case ordering that all of Hotz's emails be "Sent back."  If I were either party at that point i'd of petitioned for a new judge.

I mean, if I remember correctly, John McCain doesn't even know how to get to his email, so how the hell is he supposed to have an informed opinion on SOPA? (And I would guess he isn't the only one.)