“What do you think the likelihood of that is?” asked Rep. Mel Watt.

Really? That's the standard we're going to use -- a supporter of the bill says bad outcomes that are possible given the actual wording of the legislation probably won't happen?

Hagan, meanwhile, tells Binker: “Now that a lot of these industries have said, ‘Whoa, we don’t like this bill,’ we certainly need to look at that and address those issues.”

I'm happy to see her say that, especially since Leahy is not giving up on PIPA.

Comments

[General Zod]

Ed, the government has shown that it doesn't need SOPA/PIPA to shut down websites they have accused of piracy and alleged copyright violations:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/gear-up/megaupload-shut-down-on-piracy-charges-20120119

[sean]

zod, that method is too time consuming... for the entertainment lobby. sopa/pipa wasn't a government priority until their pockets got lined.

[justcorbly]

Watt's is making a "Trust Us" argument. I.e., we should trust people in government and in corporate media not to do bad things. Why bother, then, with annoying things like legislatures and laws? We all just need to develop trust in our betters. Shame on us for failing to do that already.

The solution to this issue is likely to be technical if someone can find a way to reliably separate the ability to copy a file from the ability to play/read/use a file. E.g., a music file you buy on iTunes can be copied and stored anywhere but can only play on your devices, i.e., the ones Apple knows about.

[Billy Jones]

So does that mean that Editors of online publications will soon be reclassified as IT persons so they can take cuts in pay.

Hagan's latest adventurers just go to show, there are no liberals in Washington.

[David Arneke]

Regarding Hagan, what I'm happy about is that she's being so transparent about her thinking and acknowledging that it's only industry concerns and not those of her constituents that make reconsideration necessary.

[Roch101]

Word.

[Kim]

Sold you out