[OOC] In The End : The Beginning of the End

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Hi,
Do we need to follow a certain character skeleton?

M'ange

Member for 0 years

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if you mean by certain rules not exactly they have to be a human or demon

DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX

Member for 0 years

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Post a reply

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Ed Westwick Tired of "Lovesick Puppy" Chuck, Ready for Gossip Girl to End (omg!)

Last we saw Chuck Bass, he was so determined to bust up Blair's wedding (ah, young love) that he told some malevolent priest from Monaco that he'd revert back to his dastardly scheming ways to do it. Which isn't so much what Blair wants, but Ed Westwick would love it.

That's because over the past two seasons of Gossip Girl, Chuck has been re-made into the heart-on-his-sleeve Romeo of the Upper East Side. His reformed self is still rich and pretentious, but the amoral playboy who once traded Blair for a hotel is long gone. Even his last fling last season with Raina turned into real love (if you take Blair out of the equation).

Gossip Girl "End of the Affair" postmortem: Burning questions answered!

"I feel like the old Chuck was a playboy and that's what I would have loved to have been," Westwick told TVGuide.com. The 24-year-old British actor laughed before adding, "Maybe I was?"

"That's like the fantasy for any young man, so it made him so much fun to play. Now he's like a lovesick puppy. It's like, dude!"

At the same time, Westwick says Chuck's turnaround makes narrative sense. "It's maturity. I've experienced it in my own life as well. I feel quite reformed," he said, smiling. "I bought an apartment so now I've got a mortgage to pay. I sit at home and drink tea and watch Planet Earth as opposed to other...activities."

"After everything Chuck's been through, I think there were some major wake-up calls and reality checks that kind of put him in a different place," Westwick continued. Being part of a torrid romance isn't so bad either. "I loved the scene where Chuck and Blair go off together in the back of that limo. Very Diana and Dodi. Quite eerie."

Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester: I want the Dan and Blair relationship to play out

Westwick refused to say whether or not reformed Chuck would go out the window during Tuesday's big wedding event (the show's 100^th episode). Now teamed up with a shady member of the clergy, will Chuck's old self-sabotaging self reemerge to rid his world of Prince Louis via less-than-honorable means? Westwick would only say anything goes on Gossip Girl: "It'll never be too boring because any moment Chuck can bring it back."

Still, Westwick hasn't changed his tune about wanting to move on from the CW series. He infamously told Tatler magazine in early 2011 that Chuck no longer fascinated him. And when asked whether Gossip Girl should continue past Season 6 ? which is when the main cast's contracts are up -- Westwick answered a resolute "no."

"We've done everything," he said. "I feel like I've done everything! But I don't write the show, so if they come up with something where I'm reading it and go, 'Oh wait! We can do this. He can fly!' then who knows."

Michelle Trachtenberg returning to Gossip Girl

Meanwhile, ratings for the show have cooled -- the most recent episode, "The Father and the Bride," drew a series low 1.1 million viewers -- and like many of his cast mates, Westwick is eager to tackle new projects. He had a small role in Clint Eastwood 's J. Edgar, and will next month begin shooting a new take on Romeo and Juliet, adapted by Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes and co-starring Hailee Steinfeld. He's playing Tybalt, of course. ("You see more into Tybalt in Julian's version," Westwick said. "Instead of him being a straight villain and sort of the fascist that we know from the play, you get some depth. I can't wait to start filming. It's unreal.")

Gossip Girl fans shouldn't start fretting yet ? Westwick is still locked in for next year should the show be renewed. "I do have a great time doing the show," he said. "It's in New York, which is sweet."

Do you feel like Gossip Girl's got more to give? Would you watch if Ed Westwick wasn't part of the cast? Tell us in the comments below.

Related Articles on TVGuide.com

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Romney to release taxes, Gingrich ready for Obama (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Newt Gingrich worked to capitalize Sunday on his upset victory in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary, while Mitt Romney moved quickly to cut his losses before the next contest with a promise to release his income tax returns within 48 hours.

Gingrich said in a round of television interviews that his win, both unexpected and unexpectedly large, showed he was the Republican best able to go toe to toe with President Barack Obama in the fall. "I think virtually everybody who looks at the campaign knows I represent the largest amount of change of any candidate, and I think that's why they see me as representing their interest and their concerns, not representing Wall Street or representing the politicians of Washington," he said.

Romney argued that point, but not another, agreeing in a television interview that he had made a mistake by refusing to release his tax returns before the South Carolina vote. "If it was a distraction, we want to get back to the real issues in the campaign -- leadership, character and vision for America, how to get jobs in America, and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," he said.

The former Massachusetts governor, who made millions in business, said he will make his 2010 return and an estimate for 2011 available online on Tuesday.

The decision marked a concession, as if one were needed, that Romney had stumbled on his way through South Carolina, a state where he led handsomely in the polls several days before the primary.

Florida votes next, on Jan. 31, a 50-delegate contest in one of the most expensive campaign states in the country, and one that Romney can ill afford to lose.

The former governor was an easy winner in the New Hampshire primary earlier in the month. Before that, he was a close runner-up behind former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in Iowa caucuses where the vote count was so confused that he was originally announced the victor.

Despite his loss on Saturday, Romney remains the contender with the largest and best-funded organization. "Three states in now, we got 47 more to go," he said, adding he was looking forward to the rest.

For all the political momentum gained in South Carolina, Gingrich made it immediately obvious that he is short on funds. He urged supporters via Tweet Saturday night to donate money, and then announced the name of his campaign website while making a nationally televised victory speech.

With their comments, both Romney and Gingrich indicated the race was a two-way competition, likely to go into the spring if not longer.

Santorum had other ideas.

"We're going to Florida and beyond," he said. As he did in a pair of debates in South Carolina, he criticized both Gingrich ? calling him a "very high-risk candidate" ? and Romney, whom he called a moderate ill-suited to appeal to conservative voters.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender, has already said he will skip Florida and focus on Nevada and other caucus states.

Gingrich won South Carolina despite being outspent. But in addition to the prohibitive cost of campaigning in Florida, a long-term shortage of funds can cripple efforts to compete in the fast-paced series of primaries and caucuses ahead.

Aides say the former speaker raised $9 million in the final quarter of 2011.

Romney has reported taking in $24 million over the same period.

In addition, both men are supported by outside groups that have paid for millions in television advertising. So far, though, Romney's has spent more, and to greater evident effect.

When Gingrich surged in the polls two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Restore Our Future responded with hard-hitting ads that knocked the former speaker off-stride and protected Romney's standing.

Gingrich lacked the funds to respond effectively, lashed out angrily, and sank to a poor fourth place finish. He did not begin to recover until the final days of the race in South Carolina, when he was aided by Romney's missteps, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's mid-week withdrawal and endorsement, and his own strong debate performances.

Also in the interim, Gingrich supporters said that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson had written a $5 million check to an outside group set up to help the former speaker.

Allies of Gingrich have made no secret of their hope that Adelson will help again in Florida, where the pro-Romney organization shows no signs of slowing down.

Even before the polls closed in South Carolina, Romney and a group supporting him had spent $7 million on television advertising in Florida. So far, the only other political ads to run in the state were financed by ASCME, a labor union working to weaken the standing of the former Massachusetts governor.

While a protracted battle for the nomination could benefit Obama, the signs pointed toward a particularly bruising struggle in Florida.

"I don't think that the people of this country are going to choose as the next president of the United States a person who spent 40 years in Washington as a congressman and a lobbyist," Romney said. "That is not going to be, in my opinion, be the most effective way to replace the current president who also spent his career in politics."

Said Gingrich: "I think South Carolinians were the first state to really understand how liberal Governor Romney's record was" as Massachusetts governor said Gingrich. He said his main rival lost ground "as people began to realize that he'd been pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase in a whole range of areas that despite his advertising and his pretending, it was clear that he was way to the left of South Carolinians."

With votes counted from all of South Carolina's precincts, Gingrich had 40 percent to Romney's 28 percent. Santorum won 17 percent to Paul's 13 percent.

Gingrich won at least 23 of the 25 delegates at stake. The other two have yet to be allocated.

Gingrich appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS' "Face the Nation" and CNN's "State of the Union." Romney was on "Fox News Sunday," while Santorum was on ABC's "This Week" and CNN.

_____

Eds: AP reporter Jack Gillum in Washington and Shannon McCaffrey in South Carolina contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Annie Leibovitz opens new art show at Smithsonian (omg!)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Photographer Annie Leibovitz says she has come back from some dark days and revived her creativity with a new photography project now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that marks a departure from her popular celebrity portraits.

Two years ago, Leibovitz was facing millions in debt and a mismanaged fortune that nearly cost her legal rights to some of pop culture's most memorable images she created. The ordeal was a good lesson in managing her business, Leibovitz said, but left her "emotionally and mentally depleted."

On Tuesday, she led a tour through the photographs she says renewed her inspiration with a few road trips through U.S. history. The idea grew out of a book she had wanted to make with her partner, Susan Sontag, with a list of destinations and an excuse to visit them. After Sontag died, she eventually revived the idea with her young children.

It began with a six-hour drive to Niagara Falls during her financial troubles only to find out her credit card had been rejected at a hotel and their rooms had been given away. While they found another place to stay, Leibovitz was upset wanted to go home. But she agreed to go to a lookout point over the waterfalls with her kids.

"I was sitting off to the side, feeling a little down, and I saw my children mesmerized, studying the falls," she said. "And I walked over, stood behind them ... and I took this picture."

It's a snapshot anyone could have taken, she said: an image that captures the blue-green water before it plunges over the falls. Soon she began thinking of other places to visit.

The images that would become "Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage" include depictions of landscapes and people, but no faces. Instead, Leibovitz photographed historic objects and scenes, including the homes of "Little Women" author Louisa May Alcott, essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, entertainer Elvis Presley and others.

"I was swept away when I walked into these places," she said. "I found myself taking pictures and not thinking about any consequences. I was seduced."

There were obstacles, though. One was coming to terms with photographing objects, she said, and finding a way to give them some emotion. She began creating close-up images, as with a nightdress worn by Emily Dickinson when she was known for roaming around her house in a nightgown. Leibovitz zoomed in on the intricate detail.

"That is not my kind of picture. I mean, I don't ever come in tight like that," Leibovitz said. "It's not me."

It's also her first all-digital photography show. Leibovitz said she is still learning about new technology and about herself.

"This is an amazing time to be a photographer," she said. "I discovered things about myself which were really comforting, that the work had a deep well, that it wasn't going to go away."

She also learned it was a mistake to leave her business affairs to others to manage.

"I mean, I had a great ride," she said. "I was like a girl who went out and took pictures, and everyone else took care of everything else. Now I really do need to take care of everything."

Leibovitz didn't discuss the status of her debt but said she has good business advisers. "I'm back, for all intents and purposes," she said.

Her travels for "Pilgrimage" produced images of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's couch, sharpshooter Annie Oakley's heart-shaped shooting target, Presley's Harley-Davidson and a TV he once shot with a gun at Graceland.

As a nod to Sontag, Leibovitz visited the home of Virginia Woolf, one of her partner's favorite writers, where she was happy to learn such a brilliant person could have such a messy studio, she said.

Andy Grundberg, guest curator for the show and a dean at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, said Leibovitz is presenting cultural history in a new way.

"She's trying to convey a sense of people without the people actually being there in front of the camera," he said of Leibovitz' travels. "She was kind of bushwhacking through our cultural legacy and figuring it out as she went along."

In some cases, one destination would lead to several others. Leibovitz was fascinated with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, which led her to find Lincoln's top hat at the Smithsonian, models for Lincoln's statue in the studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French, and to a concert gown of Marian Anderson, who sang at the memorial when she was shut out of a segregated concert hall.

Leibovitz eventually compiled the project into a book that evolved into the new exhibit. The show is on view in Washington through May 20 and then will travel to U.S. museums through 2014. The photographs on display will be donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum for its permanent collection.

Leibovitz said she pursued her new project to protect her lucrative portrait work and to go back to it revived.

"It's a project I did for myself. I wanted to be seduced into a photograph and not make it up," she said. "And I wanted to take my time."

___

Smithsonian American Art Museum: http://americanart.si.edu

___

Brett Zongker can be reached at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat

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Column: Balotelli not quite so funny anymore

By JOHN LEICESTER

AP Sports Columnist

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:02 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2012

Suddenly, Mario Balotelli doesn't seem quite so amusing anymore.

One could fill pages, and grateful newspaper hacks regularly do, with stories both real and surely imaginary about the insouciant playfulness of the striker whose goals are edging Manchester City ever closer to the English Premier League title.

A football millionaire with friends who let off fireworks in his bathroom, who has turned up for work wearing a woolly hat that looked like a chicken's comb and who was filmed struggling with the simple task of pulling on a vest is going to generate headlines and laughs.

This 21-year-old kid in a grown man's body excels at both.

Ho-ho, Mario. The question - "Why Always Me?" - that Balotelli had printed on his T-shirt when City thrashed Manchester United 6-1 in October must surely have been a joke, because his high jinks make the answer obvious.

But there is nothing even remotely humorous about a player who stamps on an opponent's head. That would be an act of nastiness.

Does Balotelli have a streak of that inside him, too? It's a legitimate question after he trampled Sunday on the right ear of Scott Parker, the Tottenham midfielder whose job of breaking up opposition attacks with his solid tackles puts him in harm's way and often leaves him face down in the grass.

The video replays looked bad but one can never be sure that they tell the whole story. Only Balotelli can be certain whether he aimed to hurt Parker or stepped on him accidentally.

With City and Tottenham tied on two goals each and with just eight minutes left, Balotelli struck powerfully for goal. Parker bravely blocked the shot, the ball ricocheting off his thigh as he threw himself in the way of the City forward. In doing so, Parker also tripped, hit the deck and became entangled in Balotelli's feet, sending the Italian tumbling, too.

As Balotelli was falling, his right foot kicked downward and thudded, with the studs of his boot, onto Parker's head. Slow-motion replays clearly showed the sequence of events. It certainly looked vicious. But what the videos could not prove was whether there was intent from Balotelli.

City assistant manager David Platt said he had not seen the incident and so wasn't prepared to judge it.

"Different angles on TV can show different things," he said.

Which is true.

But professional footballers and their bosses have repeatedly shown that they cannot be relied upon for honesty in such situations. There's too much resting on football - money, pride, results, loyalty to club or country, even jobs - and win-at-any-cost deceit is too engrained in the modern game for those involved to confess on a regular basis when they or their players have sinned.

Thus, when Real Madrid defender Pepe issued a statement to say that his stamp last week on the hand of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was "an involuntary act" we could only take his word for it, even if our eyes suggested something different.

Occasions when a coach acknowledges that a player was wrong and that a referee was right are sufficiently rare to be refreshing. That happened Saturday with Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy.

"I don't have any complaints about the sending off," McCarthy said after Karl Henry was shown the red card for kicking backward into the Marc Albrighton's chest when the Aston Villa midfielder was on the turf. "I'm not excusing him at all because he's back-heeled him."

More often, coaches see only what they want to see. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was quick to condemn Balotelli, even though he, too, cannot have known whether his stamp on Parker was deliberate.

"It's not a nice thing to do, really, is it?" said Redknapp. "It's got no place in football."

Intentional or not, Balotelli was lucky. Referee Howard Webb had already shown him a yellow card for an earlier foul and could quite easily have decided that trampling on Parker was sufficiently dangerous to warrant another, which would have sent him off. Webb, however, apparently didn't see the incident.

Balotelli could still face punishment. The English Football Association decided Monday to charge him with violent conduct, giving him until Wednesday evening to respond. Because Balotelli has already been sent off once this season, he could be banned for four matches instead of the usual three if found guilty, depriving City of his goals as it seeks to cement its lead of the Premier League.

But that would be too late to change Sunday's 3-2 scoreline. Balotelli, of course, scored the winner for City, a last-minute penalty he took with the unflappable cool of Clint Eastwood.

As is his wont, Balotelli didn't smile or celebrate, but instead stood rooted to the spot, arms out in the shape of a cross.

A lovable or mischievous rascal enjoying the last laugh.

---

John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org or follow him at twitter.com/johnleicester

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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More newsGiuseppe Cacace / AFP - Getty Images

Barca awaits Real Madrid again

Real Madrid probably will abandon its defensive strategy and go on the attack against Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

That's a reason?

AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46101143/ns/sports-soccer/

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Toddlers to tweens: relearning how to play

Children's play is threatened, say experts who advise that kids ? from toddlers to tweens ? should be relearning how to play. Roughhousing and fantasy feed development.

Havely Taylor knows that her two children do not play the way she did when she was growing up.

Skip to next paragraph

When Ms. Taylor was a girl, in a leafy suburb of Birmingham, Ala., she climbed trees, played imaginary games with her friends, and transformed a hammock into a storm-tossed sea vessel. She even whittled bows and arrows from downed branches around the yard and had "wars" with friends ? something she admits she'd probably freak out about if her children did it today.

"I mean, you could put an eye out like that," she says with a laugh.

Her children ? Ava, age 12, and Henry, 8 ? have had a different experience. They live in Baltimore, where Taylor works as an art teacher. Between school, homework, violin lessons, ice-skating, theater, and play dates, there is little time for the sort of freestyle play Taylor remembers. Besides, Taylor says, they live in the city, with a postage stamp of a backyard and the ever-present threat of urban danger.

"I was kind of afraid to let them go out unsupervised in Baltimore...," she says, of how she started down this path with the kids. "I'm really a protective mom. There wasn't much playing outside."

This difference has always bothered her, she says, because she believes that play is critical for children's developing emotions, creativity, and intelligence. But when she learned that her daughter's middle school had done away with recess, and even free time after lunch, she decided to start fighting for play.

"It seemed almost cruel," she says. "Play is important for children ? it's something so obvious it's almost hard to articulate. How can you talk about childhood without talking about play? It's almost as if they are trying to get rid of childhood."

Taylor joined a group of parents pressuring the principal to let their children have a recess, citing experts such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends that all students have at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. They issued petitions and held meetings. And although the school has not yet agreed to change its curriculum, Taylor says she feels their message is getting more recognition.

She is not alone in her concerns. In recent years, child development experts, parents, and scientists have been sounding an increasingly urgent alarm about the decreasing amount of time that children ? and adults, for that matter ? spend playing. A combination of social forces, from a No Child Left Behind focus on test scores to the push for children to get ahead with programmed extracurricular activities, leaves less time for the roughhousing, fantasizing, and pretend worlds advocates say are crucial for development.

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Trouble in Potomac City (Powerlineblog)

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The nation's weather (AP)

Wet and snowy weather will persist in the West as snow returns Sunday to the Northern Plains and upper Midwest. A strong low pressure system spinning over the Pacific will push another cold front onshore throughout the day. This system will bring rain showers to the Pacific Northwest and northern California, with heavy snow showers expected in the mountains. The Cascades may see 3 to 7 inches of new snow, and the Sierra Nevadas another 7 to 9 inches of snow.

Strong winds will develop ahead of this front, with gusts from 35 to 45 mph, up to 75 mph at the highest mountain peaks. High wind and winter weather advisories remain in effect in these areas.

Elsewhere, a low pressure system over the central and northern Rockies will advance eastward into the Plains, producing 1 to 3 inches of snow across the Dakotas and upper Midwest. Late Sunday, a cold front will develop south of this system, bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms to the Mississippi River Valley. There is a slight chance storms will turn severe in the Tennessee Valley and mid-Mississippi River valley. The back side of this system will spread lingering snow showers over the Rockies.

The East Coast will see a break in wet weather as a low pressure system and associated frontal boundary moves offshore into the Atlantic. High pressure will build over the Northeast and extend down the East Coast, allowing for a dry and mild day before another system quickly approaches from the central U.S.

Temperatures in the lower 48 states ranged Saturday from a morning low of -25 degrees at Land O' Lakes, Wis., to a high of 91 degrees at Bonifay, Fla.

___

Online:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com

National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov

Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

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Congress withdraws anti-piracy measures

SAN ANTONIO?? U.S. lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks on Friday, delivering a stunning win for Internet companies that staged an unprecedented online protest this week to kill the previously fast-moving bills.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for Jan. 24 "in light of recent events."

Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, followed suit, saying his panel would delay action on similar legislation until there is wider agreement on the issue.

"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products," Smith said in a statement.

The bills, known as PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House, are aimed at curbing access to overseas websites that traffic in pirated content and counterfeit products, such as movies and music.

The legislation has been a priority for entertainment companies, publishers, pharmaceutical companies and other industry groups who say it is critical to curbing online piracy, which they believe costs them billions of dollars a year.

But technology companies are concerned the laws would undermine Internet freedoms, be difficult to enforce and encourage frivolous lawsuits.

Public sentiment on the bills shifted in recent weeks after Internet players ramped up their lobbying.

White House officials weighed in on Saturday, saying in a blog post that they had concerns about legislation that could make businesses on the Internet vulnerable to litigation and harm legal activity and free speech.

Then on Wednesday, protests blanketed the Internet, turning Wikipedia and other popular websites dark for 24 hours. Google , Facebook, Twitter and others protested the proposed legislation but did not shut down.

The protest had quick results: several sponsors of the legislation, including senators Roy Blunt, Chuck Grassley, Orrin Hatch, John Boozman and Marco Rubio, have withdrawn their support.

In a brief statement on Friday, Reid said there was no reason why concerns about the legislation cannot be resolved. He offered no new date for the vote.

Reid's action comes a day after a senior Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the measure lacked the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle in the 100-member Senate.

Swift reaction
The indefinite postponement of the bills drew quick praise from the Internet community, and ire from Hollywood.

"We appreciate that lawmakers have listened to our community's concerns, and we stand ready to work with them on solutions to piracy and copyright infringement that will not chill free expression or threaten the economic growth and innovation the Internet provides," a Facebook spokesman said.

Chris Dodd, chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America and a former Democratic senator, said the stalling of legislation is a boost for criminals.

"As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves," Dodd said.

Way forward?
Lawmakers, technology companies and the entertainment industry pledged to find a way to combat online piracy and copyright infringement.

Reddit.com, a vocal leader in the protests and among the sites to go dark on Wednesday, said it was pleased the protests were able to slow things down, but said piracy needs to be addressed.

"We really need people at the table who have the technical expertise about these issues who can ensure that whatever bills are drafted have airtight, technically sound language, definitions and frameworks," the company's general manager Erik Martin told Reuters.

Reid expressed hope on Friday that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who has been shepherding the bill through Congress, could help resolve differences in the legislation.

"I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks," Reid said.

Leahy slammed the Senate derailment of the anti-piracy legislation as a "knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem" but said he is committed to getting a bill signed into law this year.

There are already alternatives in the works.

Senator Ron Wyden introduced a bill last month that he said "meets the same publicly stated goals as SOPA or Protect IP without causing massive damage to the Internet."

Representative Darrel Issa on Wednesday introduced a companion bill in the House.

Issa said SOPA and PIPA lacked a fundamental understanding of how Internet technologies work. The technology sector has shown more optimism about prospects for Issa and Wyden's alternative bill, called the OPEN Act.

"It's a great starting point for discussion, and we're definitely very open to that," said Tiffiniy Cheng, co-founder of Fight for the Future, a nonprofit that helped organize the Internet protests against SOPA and PIPA.

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and Comcast/NBC Universal. Microsoft publicly opposes SOPA in its current form, while Comcast/NBC Universal is listed as a supporter of SOPA on the House Judiciary Committee website.)

More on SOPA and PIPA from msnbc.com:

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46072484/ns/technology_and_science-security/

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