It is showdown time in the United States Senate for friends and foes of S.968, aka the IP Protect Act, which sets up a fast track system for removing websites that rightsholders deem to be "dedicated to infringing activities." On Saturday, senators filed a motion of cloture on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) motion to proceed to the bill.

Cloture puts a time frame on deliberation of any Congressional action item. The point is to defeat procedural efforts to block the legislation. The blocker in question took note of this move on Saturday. Six months ago Ron Wyden (D-OR) placed a "hold" on the proposed law. According to senate lingo, a hold is an "informal practice by which a Senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration."

Now Wyden promises to filibuster the legislation when the Senate returns in January.

"As one of a bipartisan group of Senators who strongly objects to proceeding to this bill I believe it is important to begin to outline the very real dangers posed by this bill," his statement warns.

The primary architects of the Internet and our leading cyber-security experts have made it clear that this legislation will undermine the key technologies that prevent fraud and protect consumers on the Internet. Our nation's leading first amendment scholars have made it clear that this bill poses a serious threat to speech and civil liberties for all who use the Internet. And our nation's leading technology employers warn that this bill presents a clear and present danger to innovation and job growth in an area that is going to be a major source of new jobs for this century.

Wyden and his House partner Daryl Issa (R-CA) have proposed an alternative to IP Protect. Their Open Act would take concerns about infringing websites away from the Department of Justice. It moves the antipiracy process from the courts and DoJ to the International Trade Commission (ITC).

The proposed law also avoids giving copyright holders any private rights of action against websites. The PROTECT IP equivalent in the House, the Stop Online Piracy Act, was delayed in House committee earlier this week.

"Over the past few weeks more than a million Americans have weighed in strongly in opposition to this legislation," Wyden's statement concludes. "Therefore, I will be working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle over the next month to explain the basis for this wide-spread concern."

A roll call vote is scheduled for 2:15pm on Tuesday, January 24. Three-fifths of the full Senate, usually 60 yeas, are needed to support cloture action.