INDEED: Groups urge Congress to take it slow on piracy.

A coalition of about 70 advocacy groups and companies sent a letter to Congress on Monday urging lawmakers to take their time in drafting anti-piracy legislation.

“Now is the time for Congress to take a breath, step back, and approach the issues from a fresh perspective,” the groups wrote. “The concerns are too fundamental and too numerous to be fully addressed through hasty revisions to these bills. Nor can they be addressed by closed door negotiations among a small set of inside the-beltway stakeholders.”The letter was signed by advocacy groups including Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Free Press, Amnesty International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Companies such as Mozilla, reddit and Twitpic also signed the letter.

Support for two anti-piracy bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), evaporated last month after thousands of websites staged a massive protest. Lawmakers said they plan to re-work the legislation before moving forward.

Wait until after the election. And ponder why we protect intellectual property rights so much more . . . vigorously than we do other kinds of property right. What gives?