Last year, the Internet briefly upended everything we know about American politics.

It was January and a pair of bills designed to squelch online piracy of movies, music, and pharmaceuticals — known by the acronyms SOPA and PIPA — seemed poised for passage.

Hollywood had put its considerable political muscle behind the legislation. And it enjoyed broad, bipartisan support.

But Silicon Valley and Internet freedom activists feared the legislation was so blunt, so poorly written, that it would cripple the web’s open architecture and stifle innovation.

Read the full article at the Providence Phoenix.