You know what? This might be the perfect thing to kill SOPA. I've heard suspicion (I'd venture to call it a conspiracy theory, except it doesn't seem all that outlandish) that Tor is actively used by various intelligence agencies, in the US and otherwise. The theory being that a network like Tor is only useful for hiding CIA traffic (for example) if the majority of traffic on Tor is non-CIA related.
If SOPA effectively bans Tor, I could imagine the head of the CIA placing a strongly worded phone call to the President ensuring that the bill gets vetoed... Yeah, I wouldn't count on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is how things play out either.
The point is that the CIA would need many non-CIA individuals in the US using Tor to effectively mask CIA traffic. Sure, if SOPA outlaws Tor that would not prevent the CIA from using it, but if it effectively reduces the number of others using it, then Tor becomes useless for the intelligence community.
Edit: Also, thanks for the link. I had forgotten, but the Tor project tacitly admits to an ulterior motive from the intelligence community.
If SOPA effectively bans Tor, I could imagine the head of the CIA placing a strongly worded phone call to the President ensuring that the bill gets vetoed... Yeah, I wouldn't count on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is how things play out either.