There's been a sort of giddy euphoria among the netroots recently, with a major win against harmful copyright legislation in the forms of PIPA and SOPA. And there's a lot of discussion about what to do with this newly-emergent energy and focus. Some are turning to the IP provisions of the Trans Pacific Partnership, or the role of the US is pushing stringent copyright protection through the Special 301 process. Others are focusing on the Research Works Act, which threatens to overturn research funding policies that ensure that the results of taxpayer-funded research stay accessible to taxpayers.

This week trade negotiators from 8 countries (including the United States) are meeting in LA behind closed doors to discuss the intellectual property chapter of a new international trade agreement.

The recent outpouring of opposition to SOPA/PIPA was an indication of citizens' outrage, not only at the actual bills, but also at the fact that Congress could be so blind to the public interest in order to please the content industry. While SOPA/PIPA are unprecedented incursions into the Internet architecture, the mindset that caused these bills to go as far as they did, has been at play for a very long time: ratcheting up protections for IP rights holders with little regard for preserving balance in IP laws or due process rights of citizens. 

ACTA (the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is making a lot of news these days, with lots of people comparing it unfavorably to PIPA and SOPA. A lot of that coverage has been focused on Europe and particularly Poland, where the Polish government's signing of the agreement has sparked considerable protest.

So is this a big deal, and if so, why is domestic coverage of it so muted in comparison to SOPA and PIPA?

Quick – what’s the legal difference between ripping a CD and ripping a DVD?  Ripping a DVD is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and could get you sued.  Unlike CDs, DVDs are protected by a digital lock.  The mere act of breaking that lock – even for a legitimate purpose – is a violation of the DMCA. 

Fortunately, the DMCA also has a built-in mechanism to deal with situations where it prevents people from doing legitimate things.  And that's why we need your help to make sure that DVD ripping is granted an exemption from the DMCA.

Former Senator Chris Dodd has been buttering the popcorn of movie theater owners since becoming Hollywood's chief lobbyist. So it's not surprising to see the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) and the MPAA commiserating together over what happened to SOPA. They're united in the delusion that the revolt of Internet users was started and orchestrated by Google--it's more comforting, no doubt, to paint a large corporation as the bad guy, instead of facing up to the reality of a populist revolt against your own greed and overreach.

The following is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge:

“As support for the movie industry’s legislation has faded away over the past two days, the motion picture lobby has introduced an unfortunate tone into the discussions.  Not only has the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) accused Web sites of abusing their freedom of speech by going dark of Internet Blackout Day to demonstrate opposition to misguided legislation, now it is threatening political figures.

“It has been reported in several outlets from the Los Angeles Times to Deadline to Fox News that MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd is threatening to cut off campaign funds from President Obama and perhaps others because of their opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

First things first: huzzah.  Today Senator Reid announced today that he is postponing the Tuesday vote on the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).  Moments later, Representative Lamar Smith shelved the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This is a fantastic day for the internet, and the internet community at large.  As we have mentioned before, this was not some “Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley” industry-on-industry regulatory fight.  This has been a fight between a set of narrow interests and everyone else.  Today all of your work paid off and the House and Senate finally realized that the process is fatally flawed.