Stop Online Piracy Act Vote Delayed

UPDATE (5:20 PM): House Judiciary Member Darrell Issa Tweets SOPA Markup Will Continue Next Wednesday (December 21, 2011) at 9 a.m.
Hat Tip: @Xpectro
From Wired:

The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor abruptly adjourned Friday with no new vote date set —a surprise given that the bill looked certain to pass out of committee today.
The committee’s chairman and chief sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), agreed to further explore a controversial provision that lets the Attorney General order changes to core internet infrastructure in order to stop copyright infringement.

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See Also: SOPA markup adjourns after marathon debate (via The Hill)

“I am pleased that the unfounded claims of critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act have overwhelmingly been rejected by a majority of House Judiciary Committee members,” [Rep. Lamar] Smith [R-TX] said. Among the amendments defeated were attempts to strip the bill’s private right of action and exempt educational institutions from its terms.
“The criticism of this bill is completely hypothetical; none of it is based in reality. Not one of the critics was able to point to anylanguage in the bill that would in any way harm the Internet. Their accusations are simply not supported by any facts,” Smith added.
The hearing adjourned prior to the day’s last series of floor votes, with plans to resume when Congress reconvenes. According to a Judiciary spokesperson, that could be as soon next week or delayed until next year, depending on when House leadership calls the House back into session. They will know with certainty on Monday.
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The hearing adjourned prior to the day’s last series of floor votes, with plans to resume when Congress reconvenes. According to a Judiciary spokesperson, that could be as soon next week or delayed until next year, depending on when House leadership calls the House back into session. They will know with certainty on Monday.

Read the Complete Article
See Also: Everything you need to know about Congress’s online piracy bills, in one post (via Washington Post)
See Also: SOPA tweet triggers political explosion, delays vote (via CBSNews.com)

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