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SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, continues to be a top trend today as hearings began in Washington Wednesday. The bill was introduced by Representative Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and is running in conjunction with the Protect IP Act lead by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Many have pointed out the real plausibility that it will be passed, due to the heavy support by both parties and powerful lobbyists including the RIAA and MPAA among others. If so, the only thing that could shut it down is a veto by Obama.Read our post about SOPA including what Tumblr is doing to fight back. The micro-blogging platform took a stand encouraging users to call
The Electronic Frontier Foundation tweeted that the site had already generated ” 3.6 calls per second to Congress opposing #SOPA!”
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Meanwhile, other tech heavyweights like Google Founder, Eric Schmidt, tore down the law during a visit to MIT Wednesday as well. “The solutions are draconian,” said Schmidt. “There’s a bill that would require [Internet service providers] to remove URLs from the Web, which is also known as censorship last time I checked.”
Google also joined forces with the likes of Facebook, Yahoo, eBay and Twitter to send a letter to Congress published in the New York Times Wednesday: “We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as to our nation’s cybersecurity.”
