legislation

Antipiracy Bills Put on Hold in Congress

Peter Landers, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 20 at 9:11 am PT

Congressional backers of online antipiracy legislation called off their efforts Friday following a storm of opposition by Internet companies, effectively killing the bills in their current form.

Sound Bites From the SOPA Strike

Arik Hesseldahl in Media on January 18 at 5:22 pm PT

A roundup of some of the interesting comments made about SOPA and PIPA during today’s Web-wide protest against the bills.

“Nerd Lobby” Shows Muscle in Debate Over Piracy Bills

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 18 at 3:51 pm PT

Late last fall, a select group met in the White House Situation Room to discuss U.S. Internet security and how it might falter if two anti-piracy bills being debated in Congress were to pass.

SOPA Bill Faces New Hurdles

Amy Schatz, Siobhan Hughes, Geoffrey Fowler and Christopher S. Stewart, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 18 at 1:10 pm PT

Antipiracy bills in Congress faced new hurdles Wednesday as House Speaker John Boehner said the legislation wasn’t ready for a vote and more than a half-dozen senators expressed reservations in some form.

What Goes On When the Net Goes Dark? (Comic)

Nitrozac and Snaggy in Voices on January 18 at 12:23 pm PT

Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site.

Author of Controversial Piracy Bill Now Says “More Study” Needed

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 12 at 4:14 pm PT

The senator who introduced hotly debated legislation intended to shut down pirate websites said Thursday he is backing away from one of the most controversial parts of the bill, amid criticism from Web companies, human rights groups and Internet engineers.

Go Daddy: Never Mind That SOPA Thing, Look at Naked Danica Patrick

Arik Hesseldahl in News on December 28, 2011 at 10:54 am PT

After losing some 37,000 domains over its support of a controversial piracy bill before Congress, Go Daddy resorts to its tried-and-true marketing weapon.

Obama Likes the Internet, So He’ll Probably Veto SOPA if It Gets That Far

Arik Hesseldahl in News on December 26, 2011 at 2:25 pm PT

Will he or won’t he?

U.S. Agency Proposes Total Ban on Talking and Texting While Driving

Ina Fried in Mobile on December 13, 2011 at 12:08 pm PT

The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for a nationwide ban on drivers’ use of portable electronics, with the exception of those that aid with driving itself.