CISPA Is "Dead for Now," Thanks to a Left-Right Coalition for Online Privacy

CISPA actually won 288 "yes" votes in the House, but the 127 "no" votes -- coming from principled members on both sides of the aisle -- sent a strong message to the more deliberative Senate. In combination with a grassroots campaign spearheaded by tech-savvy privacy activists and a threatened veto by President Obama, the bipartisan House opposition appears to have convinced Senate leaders have signaled that they plan to put the legislation on hold. The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday suggestion that CISPA looks to be "dead for now."

Groups like the  Electronic Frontier Foundation , the ACLU and Free Press will remain vigilant in opposition to proposals that the latter  warns  "would obliterate our privacy laws and chill free expression online." They recognize that the fight to block CISPA is a multi-year struggle that is likely to take many forms.

But we should all recognize the importance of what has been accomplished.

It is often said that Washington doesn't work, that partisans cannot work together. Yet, a left-right coalition in support of an old ideal and a new urgency with regard to online privacy is mounting an inspired, and effective, defense of the Bill of Rights.

What does public shaming mean in the Web 2.0 era? Read Cole Stryker's take.