Wikipedia protest hits home: U.S. senators withdraw support for anti-piracy bills as 4.5 million sign petition

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087673/Wikipedia-blackout-SOPA-protest-US-senators-withdraw-support-anti-piracy-bills.html Wikipedia back online at 5am today after 24 hour blackout 18 senators withdraw support for controversial bills Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg opposes censorship law And says internet is ‘powerful tool for creating open and connected world’ 7,000 sites across the net joined protest Founder Jimmy Wales calls the strike an ‘extraordinary action’ Hollywood movie […]

Americans Won’t Welcome Web-Piracy Crackdown: Joe Karaganis

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-19/americans-won-t-welcome-online-piracy-crackdown-joe-karaganis.html By Joe Karaganis Jan 18, 2012 7:37 PM ET This month, Congress is expected to move forward on controversial legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the Senate, both aimed at halting online copyright infringement. The shorthand version of the controversy pits Hollywood […]

U.S. online piracy bill headed for major makeover

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/us-usa-internet-piracy-idUSTRE80F1Q320120116 By Sarah McBride Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:23pm EST (Reuters) – U.S. legislation aimed at curbing online piracy, which had appeared to be on a fast track for approval by Congress, appears likely to be scaled back or jettisoned entirely in the wake of critical comments over the weekend from the White House, people […]

SOPA’s Architect Is Finally Starting to Back Down

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/01/sopas-architect-finally-starting-back-down/47425/ Flickr / ryanjreilly Adam Clark Estes 3,695 Views Jan 13, 2012 Less than 24-hours after promising not to yield, the Texas congressman and author of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Lamar Smith is yielding on the bill’s controversial language that would allow the government to censor the Internet — for now. “After consultation with […]

Guess Who Just Jumped on the Anti-SOPA Train

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/01/guess-who-just-jumped-anti-sopa-train/47433/ Ted Mann 1:50 PM ET The Obama administration has waded into the controversy over SOPA, the anti-piracy bill whose supporters include major entertainment industry groups like the MPAA and RIAA, and whose opponents warn it could lead to censorship and seriously threaten the existing structure of the internet. The Obama administration, in the form […]

Faced with SOPA Protest, One Senator Just Blinked

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/01/faced-sopa-protest-one-senator-just-blinked/47379/ Adam Clark Estes 10:56 AM ET The latest grumblings (or lack thereof) from the lawmakers on Capitol Hill suggest that they’re coming around to the idea that the latest anti-piracy efforts in the House and the Senate might’ve been a little hasty. Patrick Leahy, a senator from Vermont who co-authored the PROTECT IP anti-piracy […]

Department of Homeland Security monitors Facebook, Twitter and news sites for ‘situational awareness’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085940/Department-Homeland-Security-monitors-Facebook-Twitter-news-sites-situational-awareness.html By Reuters Reporter Last updated at 11:57 PM on 12th January 2012 The US Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document. A ‘privacy compliance review’ issued by […]

FIRST NDAA; NOW ENEMY EXPATRIATION ACT

http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin683.htm By Chuck Baldwin January 12, 2012 NewsWithViews.com Another Bill To Turn American Citizens Into Enemies Of The State On the heels of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), otherwise known as the “Indefinite Detention Act,” comes another draconian bill designed to give the federal government the power to turn American citizens into enemies of […]

Your Latest Anti-SOPA Celeb? Al Gore

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/01/your-latest-anti-sopa-celeb-al-gore/47118/ Ted Mann 1:31 PM ET Passage of the Stop Online Piracy Act could “have the effect of really shutting down the vibrancy of the Internet,” Al Gore warned this week, according to Mashable. Speaking to a crowd at a CareerBuilder, Gore joined the chorus of people who warn that the effort to ratchet back […]

Like Bush, Obama asserts prerogatives when signing laws

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-obama-congress-signing-idUSTRE8051WQ20120106 By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:36pm EST (Reuters) – It was New Year’s Eve when President Barack Obama reluctantly signed into law the legislation he had earlier threatened to veto: a mammoth U.S. defense bill with a multitude of restrictions on the administration’s handling of detainees. Administration officials had spent […]