Look, I know that Reddit, Wikipedia, EFF, Google and the rest of us did a great job in bringing public awareness to the PIPA and SOPA issues. It's great that Lamar Smith and Harry Reid have shelved the two bills respectively, but they did say it's only until there is "wider agreement" on how to proceed.

So, give yourself a quick pat on the back, and then listen up. We have a lot more work to do, and if we get complacent or distracted, we're going to get burned. SOPA and PIPA will be back in a new form, there is simply far too much money for big media on this issue, and you'd be from the 13th planet of the Naive system if you think that they are going to just give up.

The government already flexed some muscle by taking down Megaupload (let's be real though, Kim Dotcom/Shwartz/whatever made some obvious mistakes, like using .com, hosting content in US at all). However, the EFF has already come out and stated, it's pretty disturbing that they were arrested in New Zealand (and soon Slovakia and Germany) for a company based on Hong Kong, and that the site was taken down immediately without due process/a chance for defendants to respond.

The reason the government could do this is the PRO-IP Act which was passed in 2008: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRO-IP_Act

The PRO-IP Act permits the Department of Justice to conduct civil suits on behalf of copyright holders.

We need to get rid of that bill, fast. I don't see the Justice Department going over to China and stopping them from selling fake designer handbags or preventing US residents from bringing them back home, so why are they doing it digitally?

But also...

What's coming next will be far more insidious, and Lamar Smith already has given hints of what it is: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1981

H.R. 1981: Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011

If you read the summary, it seems all good and well until you see this:

Requires a provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service to retain for at least 18 months the temporarily assigned network addresses the service assigns to each account unless that address is transmitted by radio communication. Bars any cause of action against a provider for retaining records as required. Makes a good faith reliance on the requirement to retain records a complete defense to a civil action. Expresses the sense of Congress that such records should be stored securely to protect customer privacy and prevent breaches of the records.

Just like the PATRIOT Act was used for almost exclusively drug cases instead of terrorism, this is definitely going to be used in antipiracy cases almost exclusively instead. Even if this bill isn't passed, you can see how their twisted minds work and how they are developing ever more insidious ways of crafting legislation and marketing it to the public. Everyone is against CP, so it's easy to pass a pill that is supposed to protect the children. But, "think of the children!" is almost always a mask for a darker, more dangerous motive. We must remain ever vigilant against the tyranny of those who desire ever more power.

The recent fight has revealed that we have allies in our fight, ranging from the EFF to Wikimedia to Wordpress. Google did a censored doodle, which did help, and Facebook came out after the fact (not a big fan of bandwagon jumping but I'll take it).

We need to put more and more pressure on Congress, and send a message that their approval rating is below 10%, they haven't passed a budget in 3 years, and they have absolutely ZERO credibility or support from the American public on internet-related issues. Instead of passing bills to restrict freedoms, they should be passing bills to guarantee freedoms for future generations. We need to get PRO-IP repealed, and run supporters of SOPA and PIPA out of Congress and turn them into pariahs.

We also need to put pressure on big media, and send a clear message that they need to get with the program. They either have to adapt and survive, or they will go the way of the dinosaurs. They started their business by infringing on Thomas Edison's patents, and they are trying to protect their 1800's/early 1900's business model in the 21st century. Steam is a shining example of how to deliver digital content in the 21st century. Considering how much this country claims to value capitalism, how about we practice it? In a changing marketplace, you adapt or you die. It's that simple, period.

Let's coordinate our actions with our allies in this fight and send a strong and clear message to the public, government, and business.

Keep the pressure on and never let up.