Door opens for Issa-Wyden online piracy bill

The collapse in support for two anti-piracy bills last week leaves the door ajar for movement on alternative legislation offered by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA). The shelving of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act after massive online protests might have changed permanently the landscape of lobbying on tech issues. Issa and Wyden’s OPEN Act, which seeks to stop the transfer of money to foreign websites with a primary purpose of piracy or counterfeiting, is likely to get the full scrutiny of policymakers and the tech world in the coming weeks. Although whether it can move forward remains in serious doubt.