In a move that could enable some form of anti-piracy legislation to pass this Congressional term, Rep. Lamar Smith (R – Texas), principal author of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), said this evening he will make adjustments in the bill to coincide with changes advised by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D – Vt.) yesterday to the Senate counterpart bill, PROTECT-IP.
In his statement, Rep. Smith says the remaining portion of SOPA, still due for a vote on January 24, will still contain a provision that compels (though not directly forces) payment network providers to act in good faith to refrain from handling payment transactions for IP trafficking sites.