White House raises concern over DNS-blocking bills; House tables SOPA vote until 'consensus' is reached

Today the Obama Administration issued a statement on the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect-IP Act, in response to two online petitions opposing the bills — the White House says that while it still supports anti-piracy efforts, it "will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet." The White House also says that it cannot endorse policy that "drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk." Since SOPA and PIPA would threaten DNSSEC, the White House's statement puts it in de-facto opposition to the bills in their current form (however, it's worth noting that the administration's statement does not necessarily mean that Obama would veto the bills if they reach his desk).

Meanwhile, support for the bills in their current form is crumbling in Congress. The administration's statement is yet another strike against the controversial bills, following a number of setbacks for SOPA / PIPA supporters in the past week: yesterday, House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Lamar Smith said he plans to remove the controversial DNS blocking provision from SOPA, and PIPA's author, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said that "further study" is needed to sort out the consequences of the bill before it reaches a vote.

As The Hill reports, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, one of the largest and most vocal opponents of SOPA's controversial DNS-blocking measures, said this morning that he will postpone hearings on SOPA's DNS provisions, after Majority Leader Eric Cantor promised him that the House won't vote on SOPA unless there is a consensus on the bill. The assurance of consensus is another step towards slowing the bill's progress, and could give the committee additional time to evaluate SOPA's consequences. Given the mounting levels of opposition to the bills, it's unlikely that SOPA / PIPA will be pushed through as they currently stand, but there's also no guarantee that other controversial measures — like the ability for private companies to take action against presumed copyright infringers — will be removed.

• ViaJoystiq
• SourceWhite House The Hill
• Related Itemsobama controversy white house petition darrell issa sopa pipa stop online piracy act activism activist dns dnssec dns blocking protect-ip act obama administration