First Dem reverses course on piracy bill

Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) became the first Democrat to drop his support for the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) on Wednesday after a massive Web protest of the bill.

Republican Reps. Lee Terry (Neb.) and Ben Quayle (Ariz.) have also withdrawn their co-sponsorship of the House’s anti-piracy measure.

Holden was one of the earliest backers of the controversial legislation and is the first Democrat in either chamber to reverse course after thousands of sites, including Google, encouraged users to contact lawmakers about opposing the legislation. Wikipedia and reddit blacked out their sites in protest.

{mosads}Lawmakers in both parties who had not previously taken a position on the bill announced their opposition after the popular websites brought mass attention to the issue. 

Others, including GOP Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.) and Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), pulled their support for SOPA’s Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act. 

The piracy bills are designed to go after foreign websites that offer illegal copies of movies, music and TV shows. The bills would empower the Justice Department and copyright holders to demand that search engines delete links to sites deemed to be “dedicated” to copyright infringement. Ad networks and payment processors would be prohibited from doing business with the sites.

Movie studios, record labels and business groups say the legislation would cut down on illegal file sharing, which is hurting companies and eliminating jobs.

But Web companies warn the bills would stifle innovation and censor free speech. They say the legislation would impose an unreasonable burden on websites to police user-generated content and could lead to legitimate websites being shut down.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will bring the Protect IP Act to a vote on Tuesday. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) plans to push ahead with work on SOPA next month.