I, for one, am glad they're not using money to get out of this. Pragmatism has replaced idealism in this day and age. I'm not even sure that its the ideals that are keeping tech mammoths from bribing US congress. But I do think that its a very dangerous precedent to set, buying your way out of a problem. Irrespective of what comes of SOPA, there will always be things that you need to fix and taking such shortcuts is not the solution.

I know I'm quoting a TV series (24, Jack Bauer), but I hope HN will evaluate the following dispassionately (irrespective of what they think of the source of the quote): "When you cross that line, it always starts off with a small step. Before you know it, you're running as fast as you can in the wrong direction just to justify why you started in the first place. These laws were written by much smarter men than me. And in the end, I know that these laws have to be more important than....... "

I'm sure many of you will think my post reeks of naivete but I'd rather be "naive" than lose hope and give in to the shady tactics.

Once we start taking the easy way out, we lose the sense of urgency and the passion to actually solve the problem. When next such bill comes, everyone will lay back and watch someone with big pockets come in and save the day. Things wil never change that way.