The presence of the Internet didn't do anything for the NDAA, and it didn't do anything for ACTA until it was too late. The revolt we saw on the web over SOPA/PIPA was unique.

Anonymous was up in arms over ACTA years ago, but we didn't achieve much beyond taking down a few sites for a day or so and making a few videos whose grandiosity would have made Newt proud. If we really want to ensure that the Internet can be mobilized again, we would do well to analyze the last mobilization and determine what made it different. Here's my stab at it:

1) A lot of people were pissed off about SOPA for a long time before the blackout. SOPA stories started to dominate Reddit and HN, and Wikipedia was talking about a blackout long before anyone else did.

2) Engagement from politicians like Wyden, Issa, and Lundgren with SOPA detractors when all seemed lost gave hope, and made it seem like it was possible to have an effect. We would do well to keep lines of communication with these officials open, and repay their hard work when election time rolls around.

3) Popular opinion coalesced around a blackout long before any site had announced one. SOPA detractors were talking about how to get big sites to particilate in a blackout way back in early December.

4) Someone set a damned date. Though it was widely ridiculed on HN, some random redditor said, "we're doing it on January 18", and that was that. The moderators of r/SOPA agreed to black out that subreddit on the 18th, then when it was announced that Alexis would be testifying before congress on the 18th, the reddit admins followed suit. Setting a date on reddit finally kicked the Wikipedia discussions into high gear, and the rest of the dominos followed.

5) We had public figureheads like Alexis and Jimmy Wales to liaison with Old Media and congress. The importance of this can't be overstated. Alexis put a (freakishly tall and charismatic) face on the internet, and we can't ignore the effect of that on old media.

6) Obvious, but worth noting: we had large organizations participating. People at those organizations semi-independently decided that a blackout was a good idea, and some announced they were taking action long before it was what all the cool kids were doing. Special props to Ben Huh on this; the Cheezburger network was one of the first outside of reddit and Wikipedia to join the blackout.

7) The owner-as-user: thousands of smaller sites, whose owners/operators are far more Internet addict than industry titan, decided to put their livelihood on the line and join the blackout. This one will hit the game theory wonks hard, as it's the complete opposite of the Tragedy of the Commons. A bunch of people, whose independent actions wouldn't have made much difference, acted together to have a huge impact. They acted against their own individual self-interest (the blackout wouldn't have noticed their absence if they didn't participate) in pursuit of the common good. This is both laudable and noteworthy.

8) Perhaps most worryingly, the blackout was unprecedented. This means it will likely be exceedingly difficult to do again. The impact of any future action will likely be greatly reduced as it won't have the same novelty. We're really going to have to find a way around this if we plan on being able to rally the troops for a future fight.