Who Really Stopped SOPA, and Why?

David Moon, Patrick Ruffini and David Segal, editors, Hacking Politics (OR Books 2013)

8 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2016

See all articles by Larry Downes

Larry Downes

Larry Downes Consulting Group

Date Written: May 1, 2013

Abstract

In late 2011, Internet activists rewrote the rules of Washington, blocking passage of industry-written copyright bills that threatened the continued health of the Open Internet. How and why did they do it, and what impact did their unorthodox campaign have on the future of efforts by Washington to regulate the Internet and its users? This essay, written by one of the activists involved, praised the effort while warning of the danger of "bitroots" lobbying to become, as it has in the years since, mob behavior.

Keywords: SOPA, PIPA, copyright, Internet, MPAA, lobbying, regulation

JEL Classification: D40, K23, L14, L22, L43, L51, L86, L96, O33

Suggested Citation

Downes, Larry, Who Really Stopped SOPA, and Why? (May 1, 2013). David Moon, Patrick Ruffini and David Segal, editors, Hacking Politics (OR Books 2013), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2830076

Larry Downes (Contact Author)

Larry Downes Consulting Group ( email )

245 Willamette Ave
Kensington, CA 94708
United States

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