Marco Rubio must have needed to look something up on
Wikipedia this morning.
In the midst Wednesday’s massive online protest, Rubio
rescinded his sponsorship of The Protect IP Act (PIPA), one of two current
pieces of congressional legislation seeking to control internet content.
Rubio joined a growing number of elected officials from both
parties who are distancing themselves from, if not outright condemning, PIPA
and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The bills have been attracting an
increasing amount of criticism over the past few weeks, but this level of
exodus began after the White House signaled on Saturday that it would
not support the bills.
SOPA and PIPA are both designed to prohibit servers from
accessing websites “dedicated” to copyright infringement, and make websites
liable for hosting pirated material. Media companies, who claim that piracy is
costing them money and forcing layoffs, are the biggest
supporters of the bills.
Rubio initially sponsored PIPA under the guise of protecting
American industry, but the protests seem to have changed his tune. The bills
have come under intense scrutiny both for their possible implications in web
censorship and for putting the United States in a position of policing an international
realm. Rubio now says he worries about the ramifications of PIPA on the freedom
and agility of the internet.
SOPA sponsors Rep. Lamar Smith remains steadfast in his
support, calling the protests “a publicity
stunt,” though it should be noted that the whole point of the
protests was to generate publicity. (I’m sure there’s a Wikipedia page on
“Missing the point” I could link to, but the site’s blacked out, so…)
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, Lamar Smith’s polar opposite, gives a
good interview about the dangers of the bills here.
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