Pipa/sopa Rejected. What Did Go Wrong?

Wednesday, January 18th 2012 has seen an unprecedented event considered to be the largest organized online protests in more than a decade, forcing both the US House of Representatives and the Senate to back away from PIPA and SOPA, a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills.

While the goal is unanimously considered noble, the bills have been rejected, what did go wrong?

The Pain

According to the US Chamber of commerce estimates, Hollywood studios, record labels and publishing houses, lose $135 billion in revenues each year from piracy and counterfeiting.

The Motion Picture Association of America reports that "More than $58 billion is lost to the U.S. economy annually due to content theft, including more than 373,000 lost American jobs, $16 billion in lost employees earnings, plus $3 billion in badly needed federal, state and local governments' tax revenue."

"Intellectual property is one of America's chief job creators and competitive advantages in the global marketplace, yet American inventors, authors, and entrepreneurs have been forced to stand by and watch as their works are stolen by foreign infringers beyond the reach of current U.S. laws" said Congressman Bob Goodlatte.

US House's and Senate's Solutions

US Senate's PROTECT Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), introduced in May 12, 2011, and House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), introduced in October 26, 2011, address the piracy issue by cutting the revenue streams to the foreign websites trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. This is done by barring advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business, search engines from linking and Internet Service Providers from allowing access to such websites.

Proponents and Opponents

The bills are mainly supported by media companies for whom the Intellectual Property is the main business. Also supported by US Chamber of Commerce and some industries (pharmaceutical makers) being concerned about counterfeit goods trafficking and its impact on their business.

"I appreciate the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. and its member companies regarding the impact of this illicit activity on our business and the livelihoods of those who work in our industry, and how H.R. 3261 (SOPA) will help address this challenge." wrote Michael P. O'Leary, MPAA Executive VP in a testimony to the Judiciary Committee.

"This is a common-sense way forward that is good for the whole industry," said Steve Tepp, chief counsel on intellectual property for the Chamber's Global IP Center.

The opposition here is mainly the internet industry, they consider the bills as a thread to their,