Last month, when Netroots Nation came to town, I wrote a piece called "Game Change?" that asked whether the remarkable Internet uprising that squashed the SOPA and PIPA bills - bills that were designed to crack down on Internet piracy, but which critics called a hamhanded assault on the open web - could be replicated.

At the heart of that question is another: was the anti-SOPA coalition of lefty netroots types, libertarians, and big Internet companies so unique that we're unlikely to see it again, or were the tools it developed so powerful that they are destined to spread to, and transform, fights over abortion or the environment or campaign finance reform?

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, liberal warrior, is looking like the paragon of statesmanlike compromise of late.

His DISCLOSE Act, which aims to shed light on those bankrolling the sort of independent political groups playing an outsize role in the presidential race, didn't win any GOP votes in the Senate this week. But former Republican senators Warren Rudman and Chuck Hagel offered praise for "a bold display of compromise."

Cybersecurity has been building steam in Congress for some time now. And this was supposed to be the year that a bill would pass.

But Senator John McCain has led a GOP revolt against his friend Senator Joe Lieberman's bill, arguing that it would be too onerous on industry.

Enter Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who has joined with Republican Senator Jon Kyl in attempting to fashion a compromise.

This just in from The Hill:

Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) urged the Senate to find a compromise solution for cybersecurity legislation on Monday.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Snowe and Warner said there is "tremendous potential" for the Senate to find a solution for securing critical infrastructure systems that "incentivizes private sector participation and collaboration."

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is apparently in the middle of a push to compromise on the big cybersecurity bill before Congress. From The Hill (see below the story for my analysis):

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) revealed on Tuesday that he is working to chart a middle path on cybersecurity legislation.

Graham told The Hill he is working with Sens.

Rhode Island Congressman Jim Langevin's signature issue is cybersecurity. And after sounding the alarm for years about vulnerabilities in our power grid and other critical infrastructure, it looked like he would finally be able to claim a hand, this year, in cybersecurity legislation of some significance.

Now, the prospects are looking dimmer.

Congressman James Langevin has made cybersecurity his central concern. And passage of significant legislation looks like it's finally in reach.

House and Senate leaders have indicated that they'll bring bills to the floor sometime in April. In the House, that means a package of three bills, including one that Langevin co-sponsored with Congressman Dan Lungren, a California Republican.

For the last several years, Rhode Island Congressman James Langevin has been pushing hard for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation.

Yesterday, a big step toward making that a reality: the US Senate, which had been slow to move on the issue, released a long-awaited cybersecurity bill to go with one making its way through the House.

A subcommittee of the House's Homeland Security Committee is marking up its cybersecurity bill today and has just signed off on an amendment, proposed by Congressman Jim Langevin, that would require the Department of Homeland Security to work with regional cybersecurity collaboratives, like the one he has helped launch in Rhode Island.

Congressman James Langevin has signed on to an alternative to the controversial Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation in the House of Representatives.

Langevin is now a co-sponsor of the OPEN Act, introduced by California Republican Darrell Issa, which aims to move piracy disputes to the International Trade Commission (ITC) and address some of the Internet companies' concerns about SOPA and its Senate corollary, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

I've got a cover story in today's Phoenix about the suddenly white hot debate over Internet piracy - a debate that has fired up the netroots and split Rhode Island's Congressional delegation.

The opposition to a pair of anti-piracy bills in Congress, aimed at blocking the illegal distribution of music, film, and pharmaceuticals, was already bubbling.

Representative David Cicilline has announced his opposition to the anti-Internet piracy bills, too, leaving Senator Sheldon Whitehouse as the lone supporter in the Rhode Island delegation. Cicilline's statement:

“After careful review of the proposed legislation and reflecting on the concerns expressed to me by Rhode Islanders, I have decided to oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act as it is currently drafted.

With the tide quickly turning on a pair of anti-Internet piracy bills before Congress - the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate - Senator Jack Reed has come out in opposition to the legislation. In a statement just released to the Phoenix:

“I am opposed to passage of this legislation as currently drafted.

The Phoenix hits the stands a day early this week, what with the holiday and all. And it's a fun issue. The cover story: our third annual turkey shoot, where we call out Rhode Islanders, as the story says, for "acts most fowl."

There's some other good stuff in there, too. Brian Jones has a piece on the battle to remake Queen Anne Square in Newport - a fight that evokes the all the city's delicious passions: money, fame, aesthetics.

UPDATE: I checked in with Langevin's spokesman Jonathan Dworkin to get the Congressman's view on the political prospects of a recently promulgated House GOP package of cybersecurity reforms - some plucked from Langevin''s own proposals. Here's the response:

He is cautiously optimistic that we can get something done, though he does not necessarily think it will be the comprehensive legislation that he would prefer, despite that being the preference of leading Senators from both parties on the issue.