The secret behind the SOPA defeat

The recent defeats of SOPA and PIPA, two bills designed to clamp down on Internet piracy, have been widely hailed as a victory for popular, bottom-up democracy. To some degree this was true, but it's important not to overlook the effect of bareknuckled political action and lobbying by the tech industry. And it's important not to forget that the tech lobby deserves just as much scrutiny as do the various lobbies -- the movie and music industries, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others -- that supported the bills.

The tech lobby was in the right this time, but it won't always be. And though at least some of the companies that fought against SOPA and PIPA did so in part from a sincere desire for sound public policy, they mainly did it to protect their own business interests. Judging by some of the reactions to the bills' defeat, you'd almost forget that the fight was mainly between two groups of powerful, self-interested business interests. Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, called the bills' demise "a serious grassroots victory for democracy." Politico's Anna Palmer took things a step further, citing the legislation's defeat as evidence that "K Street's boom days have come and gone."