While there had been plans to move forward with a markup on the COICA censorship bill this week, it appears that those plans have been delayed, effectively shelving the bill for the time being. This should keep it off the agenda at least until after the elections, but you can expect it to come back before too long. From what’s been discussed, it sounds as if those backing the bill really hoped to push it through before any opposition actually recognized what was in the bill and could mobilize protests — but that didn’t work. So, next time it comes around, those who feel pretty strongly that our gov’t shouldn’t be in the business of censoring websites without due process will be better prepared as well. It certainly doesn’t mean that this fight is over. You can bet that supporters of the bill will put forth a much stronger media campaign as well. But, at least this dreadfully bad piece of legislation didn’t just get rushed through.

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