As A new U.S. Congress begins work this month, few insiders expect that there will a rush to create new versions of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or the Protect IP Act (PIPA).
Internet antipiracy legislation, as embodied by SOPA in the House and PIPA in the Senate, was by far the most controversial tech issue taken up by the outgoing Congress.
The bills would have given the U.S. Department of Justice and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency the power to order domain-name registrars to cut service to websites accused of online piracy or counterfeiting U.S. products. They also would have given officials the authority to prohibit search engines from linking to such sites, and to take action against online advertisers and payment processors with business ties to suspected pirates.