While SOPA didn't have a particularly good weekend, reports that the bill had been shelved appear to be premature. Bill co-sponsor Representative Lamar Smith issued a statement yesterday that the bill would see markup in February, after (at least according to Smith's hopes) much of the furor over the bills have died down. Meanwhile Reddit and Wikipedia have taken their traditional websites offline in protest, while Google's logo looks a bit different today. The MPAA issued a statement (pdf) today calling the protests little more than a publicity stunt:
It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.
At least the MPAA accusing others of skewing facts to further corporate interests ads a bit of comic relief to today's proceedings. Those interested in taking action can find plenty of forms (Google, EFF) making it easy to contact your representatives.read comment(s)