Demonstrators and Defectors

Despite the urgency with which certain members of Congress tried to push SOPA and PIPA through the gears of government, legislators are abandoning ship as a direct result of pressure from voters.

As I mentioned, policymakers are more interested in taking positions than making great laws, because positions are more valuable for grabbing votes. Knowing that a massive public outcry over SOPA and PIPA may threaten their offices more than pressure from interest groups, sponsors of the bills have dialed back their enthusiasm for their most controversial provisions. In the past week alone, leaders from both major political parties that once supported pushing SOPA and PIPA through without critical evaluation have quickly backpedaled, postponing hearings and making broad assurances that "consensus" will be reached before a vote occurs.

Don't be fooled: these legislators still want to enact anti-piracy legislation that will please their benefactors, and the advantage is squarely in their court.

Wikipedia, Google, and others joining in today's internet blackout in opposition to SOPA have paid an immense price: their credibility is now on the line, and protest doesn't come cheap. The conversation may reach a flashpoint in the next few days, but Congress has plenty of time to sit on SOPA and PIPA until the fervor dies down. Wikipedia can't shut itself down every month to protest the bills every time they take a new turn for the worse, and the public's attentiveness isn't likely to last forever. Just today, Chris Dodd published a statement denouncing the blackouts. He says that "a so-called 'blackout' is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals." Members of Congress actually care about what this man says. They care a lot.

Even if SOPA and PIPA die on the vine, Congress will be back with fresh legislation and cute new propaganda-laden titles, courtesy of the MPAA and RIAA's ruthlessly effective combination of money and patience — a combination the tech community has shown little interest in matching. To change Congress, you have to change who Congress listens to. But more importantly, you have to change what those people are saying — and to do that you need to peer outside the marble halls of Congress and focus your gaze squarely on Silicon Valley.