As a result, badges are now offered by an increasing number and variety of credible schools and programs, including the Kahn Academy, Carnegie Mellon, and, yes, MITx and edX.

FORBES: Badges Lend Gravitas To Free Education Revolution

And, in fact, there has been some very intelligent writing on how the draconian SOPA legislation will impact the Open Educational Resource movement of which MITx is a leading light.

FORBES: And Not Only That, SOPA Will Ruin MITx!

In the long run, we'd probably see more innovative low-cost learning alternatives, such as the free online courses being offered by Stanford, Princeton, and MIT professors through the new ventures Udacity, Coursera, and MITx.

CNN: Obama should push bankruptcy relief for student loans