Lamar Smith and the Internet

Timeline created by UnseatLamar in Science and Technology

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Event Date:	Event Title:	Event Description:
27th Feb, 2002	Allowed telecom monopolies to provide internet service	Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001: Voted to allow telecom monopolies to enter the high-speed Internet access market via their long-distance connections whether or not they have allowed competitors into their local markets as required under law. Bill HR 1542 Image Credit
5th Jun, 2006	Voted against Net Neutrality	Voted NO on HR 5252 Amendment 987, which would have prevented Telecoms from implementing "pay-to-play" restrictions on internet speed and removed the Telecom monopoly on providng internet service. Infographic Image Credit
5th Jun, 2008	Granted Warrantless Surveillance Immunity to Telecoms	Voted YES on HR6304, which granted immunity to those organizations engaged in warrantless surveillance Image Credit
25th May, 2011	Smith Introduces HR1981	HR1981 requires ISPs to track temporarily assigned network addresses (and potentially allows them to track other sensitive information). Retention of this information could have serious civil liberty consequences. Source Image Credit
26th Oct, 2011	Smith introduces SOPA	Allows the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders to stop online ad networks and payment processors from doing business with foreign websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement without due process. Source Infographic Image Credit
17th Jan, 2012	Feb. Markup of SOPA scheduled	Despite widespread opposition to the bill, Lamar Smith feels confident in scheduling the legislation for markup in February. Source Image Credit
18th Jan, 2012	Blackout SOPA protests	13 million people, 400,000 phone calls, and countless e-mails defeated a bill - 85 congresspeople immediately voiced their opposition as a result. Infographic Image Credit
20th Jan, 2012	SOPA is withdrawn	But Smith maintains: Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack. Source Image Credit
27th Mar, 2012	Smith on SOPA: Start Over	In an interview, Lamar Smith says of SOPA "we need to wait and start over" Source
2nd Apr, 2012	SOPA protest "misinformed"	Lamar Smith: "The language in the bill may have been aimed at taking on foreign piracy, but the definitions of foreign and domestic web sites in the original bill meant that it could be used to target a U.S. web site as well, if that U.S. web site was registered with a foreign domain name registrar." Source Image Credit
5th May, 2012	Moneybomb to Unseat Lamar	A grassroots organization holds a moneybomb to air their TVspot in Lamar Smith's district. Help them make this happen!
29th May, 2012	Lamar Smith loses his primary race	Smith couldn't shake the stigma of sponsoring SOPA - He came in a distant third in a three way race Image Credit