Action on PIPA, SOPA Postponed in Wake of Protest; Both Sides Vow to Continue Work on Online Copyright Bills

Bills in both the House and Senate aimed at reducing copyright infringement on foreign websites have been put on hold as many co-sponsors withdrew their support in the wake of a widespread, vocal protest that included the "blackout" of prominent websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit on Jan. 18. The White House also voiced objections to certain general approaches to dealing with online piracy, without explicitly saying whether it believed any provisions of the controversial Senate and House bills took those approaches.

On Jan. 20 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) announced the postponement of a planned Jan. 24 cloture vote to bring the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP Act, or PIPA) (S 968) to the chamber floor.

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Megaupload Domains SeizedIn Copyright Infringement Case

The Justice Department on Jan. 19 announced that it has charged Megaupload Ltd., operator of content-hosting website MegaUpload.com, along with seven of its employees and a holding company used by Megaupload's founder, with criminal copyright infringement and related crimes.

The department said that the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., had ordered the seizure of 18 domain names associated with Megaupload, which has servers in Ashburn, Va., and Washington, D.C.

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