On April 22, the House Regulated Industries held a surprise hearing on HB2121, the House version of the Texas SDMCA. It wasn't a coincidence that the MPAA lobbyists had flown in that morning.

Last Wednesday, the MPAA lobbyists flew back to DC. We helped send them home.

Here's a bit of history on the bill's last days and some thoughts on the EFF-Austin efforts.

The bill was defeated on a point of order -- a technicality -- on Monday night on the House floor. The bill analysis didn't match the content of the bill. Points of order don't happen by accident. Members bring points of order when they oppose the bill, and they're not positive they have enough votes to win. It takes substantial support to sustain a point of order.

The bill was in the queue to return on Tuesday, as an amendment to SB1952, an omnibus government re-org bill where the sponsor was taking any and all amendments (somebody called it "a Christmas tree bill.") But the clock ran out at midnight, after only 100 of the 500 amendments in the queue.

We don't know for sure what would have happened if there was a debate. We do know for sure that there was strong opposition to the bill, from left, right, and center, due to our efforts and the efforts of technology industry allies, to educate and inform members.

In the last few days of the session, a team of eight EFF-Austin/ACLU-Texas volunteers visited all 150 house members' offices, many of whom hadn't heard of the bill before we arrived. Many more volunteers wrote, faxed, and called legislators. Volunteers got the word out to other technology user groups. A number of legislators mentioned they'd been getting constituent calls against the bill.

Our efforts helped kill the bill. Thanks tremendously to everyone who participated.

We formed a powerful alliance with ACLU-Texas, which is one of the largest and most successful grassroots lobbying groups in Texas. The ACLU had a Cyberliberties project, but the team lacked strong technology background. EFF-Austin had technology expertise and passion for preserving civil liberties related to technology. ACLU folks taught us the ins and outs of lobbying, and worked on the bill at critical moments.

This is going to be a long list, and I'm going to leave people out by accident, so write in the comments, or send me email and I'll update the list

Thanks to:

• Doug Barnes, for legal analysis and testimony under fire.
  
• Kathy Mitchell, sargeant of the ACLU legislative team, for teaching us everything about what to do.
  
• Randy Zagar, Wayne McDilda, Ann Del Llano, and Paul Elliot for testifying at committee hearings; Chip Rosenthal for putting in a card and staying til midnight
  
• Jon Lebkowsky, Frieda "Ms G", Paul Elliot, Randy, and others for keep the website up to date and notifying allied groups
  
• Chip Rosenthal, Randy Zagar, Jon Lebkowsky, Don Turnbull, Tom Morin, Renako Godfrey, Jim Weiler, Ann Del Llano, and Will Harrell for legislative visits.
  
• Everyone who called, faxed, and wrote legislators
  
• The lobby teams at TI, TechNet, the Consumer Electronics Retailers' Association, and Consumer Electronics Association for providing critical industry opposition to the bill.
  
• Ed Cavazos, for the advice to reach out to industry allies
  
• Gene Crick at TISPA, Tim Morstad at Consumers' Union, and Smitty at Public Citizen, for being allies and providing help in critical moments.
  
• Folks in grassroots groups in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and Massachusetts, who shared tactics, materials, and war stories
  
• Fred von Lohman, of EFF National, for legal advice and support
  
• The teams at Public Knowledge, EFF, and Digital Consumer, for help in co-ordinating opposition across the country; and for the EFF and Digital Consumer fax banks
  

We can't relax forever. The MPAA says they'll be back.

There's a team here waiting for them.