Despite the inordinate amount of Micks this country has in it (yours truly being one of them), fortunately we are still not Ireland, which is going to pass its own version of SOPA without even giving its members of parliament time to don their powdered wigs. Unlike Irish Spring, this stinks. Ireland's populace is powerless to lobby said members to shout this bill down. Why? This odious legislation is being lubed up and jammed through without a peep because it's being prepared as a Statutory Instrument. In Ireland these laws can be passed through without approval by Parliament, however they can be challenged in the courts after enactment, as will surely be the case here.This law, S.I. No. 337/2011 — European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Universal Service and Users' Rights) Regulations 2011, virtually mirrors SOPA in that it gives the Irish government the power to order ISPs to block websites that are flagged or protested by record labels, the MPAA, etc. Just like ours. One more reason for the Irish to stay drunk.Hey, Bono, where are you NOW, when we need you? Here is a good FAQ by the head of Digital Rights Ireland about the law.BTW, here is a press release from Blacknight, an web host and register in Ireland protesting the soon to be infamous SI No. 334/2011 as well. Quote from Blacknight's CEO:

Michele Neylon of Blacknight explains some of the effects: “Ireland has a healthy digital economy, an economy that we at Blacknight are proud to be part of. International companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, EBay, PayPal and many more have chosen Ireland as their European home. The introduction of this sort of legislation without proper debate and discussion and without the full ramifications of the legislation being considered could only have negative impact on the digital industry and the Irish economy as a whole.”Neylon continues: “Innovation in a digital age should be allowed to flourish. Intellectual property rights holders are, of course, entitled to protections, but those protections should not be granted at the behest of freedom of speech and unreasonable impact on others.”

Of course, Obama also already signed ACTA, which allows companies abroad the power to demand content be removed from US ISPs without any legal oversight as well. So, we have our own issues domestically. C'est la vie!