--HOPE FOR A SECOND MANAGER’S AMENDMENT? The big question coming out of a panel discussion featuring lawmakers here on Wednesday was whether a second manager’s amendment to SOPA might be coming down the line. Rep. Darrell Issa said he has not seen any such amendment but alluded to early talks among panel Republicans (first reported by POLITICO) to drop the bill’s DNS provisions.
For now, folks on House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith’s team didn’t comment on the speculation. Still, some members are waiting for any word of incoming changes to the bill. In an interview after the panel concluded, Rep. Cliff Stearns stressed to MT that he didn’t think “anybody should have a strong position” on SOPA until any possible second manager’s amendment is made public. We’re tracking.
CROCKER: PULLING DNS BLOCKING PROVISIONS FROM SOPA/PIPA WOULD BE ‘FANTASTIC’ — That's what the chair of the ICANN board of directors told MT. In his capacity as chief executive of Shinkuro, Crocker has joined with Dan Kaminsky and other Internet engineers to raise security concerns about the domain name-related provisions in SOPA and PROTECT IP.
Republican House Judiciary Committee staffers discussed last week dropping a controversial domain name-blocking provision from the bill, but no decisions have been made. "DNS filtering is a very bad idea," Crocker said. "All of us would like to emphasize that we're not opposed to combating piracy and we're happy for the other elements of the bill that are focused on getting at the money flow and the advertising chain. It's a question of using the right tools to get the job done and not having consequential damage and unintended consequences."
In 2 hours I'm going to see two congress critters. Nancy Pelosi and Mike Honda at a fundraiser in Palo Alto.
What is the most effective argument I can make to these people that will result in changing their minds?