Hillary Clinton's decision to come out in support of SOPA was an extremely stupid decision that will haunt her and the US State Department for as long as the current administration remains in power.

In a letter to Rep Howard Bernman, a co-sponsor of the bill, Secretary Hillary Clinton tacitly endorsed the proposed legislation, stating, "There is no contradiction between intellectual property rights protection and enforcement and ensuring freedom of expression on the internet". Prominent supporters of the bill are now distributing the letter as a sign the State Department is behind their bill.

No, there is no contradiction between intellectual property rights protection and enforcement and ensuring freedom of expression on the Internet. However, there IS a massive contradiction between having a process where anyone can take any website down with 5 days notice and no oversight from a neutral decision maker, and ensuring freedom of expression on the Internet. The US State Department ought to be intelligent enough to differentiate these things, but they aren't, and that is a problem that isn't going to go away when SOPA dies its well deserved death.

US State Department not for internet freedom - Opinion - Al Jazeera English