SOPA Dies – Smith Pulls Bill

Lamar Smith, the chief sponsor of SOPA, made a statement today that he is pulling the bill “until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

“I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Smith (R-Texas) told Reuters. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”

The move came only 2 days after a widespread protest took place on the Internet. The protest included a host of major websites like Wikipedia and Reddit going dark to signal their displeasure with the bill.

The protest resulted in several Congressmen making statements that they were no longer supporting SOPA or its Senate counterpart, PIPA. The PIPA bill has also been pulled for the time being.