Good news! The ESA, the organisation that runs E3 and is considered as the lobbying arm of the video games industry has backed out of supporting SOPA(the Stop Online Piracy Act). SOPA is a bill that would have given IP holders absolutely authority over anything related to their IP including screenshots and videos. It would allow IP holders to call for the blocking of a website(very very bad). Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith conceded that they would not be considering SOPA until a compromise was reached. The sister act(no relation to Whoopi Goldberg), PIPA(Protect IP Act) has been put on hold. Mr Smith said "I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy."
And the ESA had this to say "From the beginning, ESA has been committed to the passage of balanced legislation to address the illegal theft of intellectual property found on foreign rogue sites. Although the need to address this pervasive threat to our industry’s creative investment remains, concerns have been expressed about unintended consequences stemming from the current legislative proposals.
“Accordingly, we call upon Congress, the Obama Administration, and stakeholders to refocus their energies on producing a solution that effectively balances both creative and technology interests. As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection and are committed to working with all parties to encourage a balanced solution.” I think the ESA got cold feet when huge sites started protesting this bill. Well done guys! We did it!
Source: BBC
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