It must be a genuinely awesome feeling to have a clear success driven by genuine popular support. The Wikipedia-led campaign against the US draft legislation SOPA and PIPA (doubtless helped by the bizarre acronyms) has driven all before it and the result is a galloping, stampeding rout. Not only has the White House indicated its lack of support, but three of the co-sponsors of the SOPA and PIPA antipiracy bills have publicly withdrawn their support, joining another six retirees previously, and a spokesman for the House office of the chief administrative officer indicated that the weight of the online protest had set the doves fluttering: “It’s possible some users will see a short delay or slow loading of a member’s web page,” he said.

But the battle is not over. Fashion is fickle, and this is still a fashionable rather than genuinely well understood issue. Opponents of the bills do not in general support an internet free for all, and most of the proponents do not support censorship. The real battle comes when both sides discuss the mechanics in the sober political aftermath. The bills have not been killed and may still continue their erratic course.

Unfortunately, after all such battles, opinions tend to get polarized as well as exaggerated. Let’s hope the real debate, when it comes, is not characterized by people and interests shouting at each other. And it’s not all about the US. Let’s start a proper international conversation about it.

Such is modern public affairs. A successful and agreed outcome will be determined by discussion, consensus and cooperation, not by advocacy, declamation, and division.

With thanks to reddit, Wikipedia, Mozilla, WordPress and Google for all the Sopa Homepages