This proposal more or less codifies the status quo. It's not at all a "patent troll-killing bill".

This doesn't seem to be the case, and I kind of trust the EFF, given that they're a bunch of lawyers and have experience in this kind of thing. The "winner pays" thing alone seems like it would go a long way towards stopping frivolous patent lawsuits. Why do you think that it changes nothing?

Yeah, I am shocked to say the least after he authored SOPA.

Why? its not that he hates technology people - he didnt propose SOPA just to piss you off. He's bought and paid for by the content lobby, that's a copyright issue and not at all related to patents. Patent trolls and Hollywood aren't the same entity - lots of us in technology feel the same way about both groups but that's because of our unique perspective. To Lamar Smith and many others this can be viewed as a bill to help the (innovation) economy, his position on SOPA can likewise be viewed as a way to protect (one slice of) the economy. His position is basically a pro-business position - you just happen hate some of the business he supports and love other business he supports. From his perspective your views seem contradictory - why are you pro-business and anti-business?

It turns out that politicians aren't actually divided along "good/evil" lines, no matter how much we'd like to paint them that way.

SOPA was supported by money, not ideology. This bill is narrowly targeted towards NPEs, by making their business model unprofitable. It’s not going to stop Qualcomm from extracting rents or Apple from going after Google.

I was just as shocked to see John Cornyn on the list. Shock and awe.