On Wednesday, I noted the protests against the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), bills that would fundamentally change the Internet by giving the government power to censor foreign websites that purportedly enable copyright infringement or piracy. Many doubted that this action would have any real effect; however, we’ve seen many co-sponsors and supporters of anti-piracy legislation in both chambers of Congress distance themselves.
SOPA, introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) was pulled off the table prior to Wednesday’s protest. Until yesterday, Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was still planning to markup the legislation next month. PIPA, which was supposed to come up for a vote in the Senate next week, was yanked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) due to collapsing support.
Until Wednesday, many members of Georgia’s congressional delegation had been silent on these two bills. The only opponent of SOPA I knew about at the time was Rep. Paul Broun, and that’s only because he personally told me earlier this month. But Wednesday’s protests prompted statements on the bill from other House members from our state. According to what I’ve found, Reps. Broun, Tom Graves, Hank Johnson, Jack Kingston, John Lewis, Austin Scott, David Scott, Lynn Westmoreland, and Rob Woodall are against SOPA as currently written. Rep. John Barrow was the only member that has publicly expressed support for SOPA (he’s also a co-sponsor). Rep. Phil Gingrey was unclear in his response to constituents, but you could read it as support. And Rep. Tom Price said he thought the bill was dead, but took no real position.
In the Senate, Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson were listed as co-sponsors of PIPA, which was the equally bad anti-piracy legislation introduced in the upper chamber by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT). My Peach Pundit colleague, Charlie Harper, noted that Chambliss was still vocal in his support during the protests. Here is the statement from his office from late Wednesday afternoon:
“I believe that online theft is a serious issue, and that Congress does need to make certain that the law adequately protects the interests of rights holders. Not only do we need to be concerned about intellectual property, such as movies and books, but also items such as counterfeit toothpaste or mouthwash from China that pose serious safety issues to all Americans. Because of this, I am a co-sponsor of the PROTECT IP Act. I have listened to the concerns of many Georgians and I agree that these concerns must be addressed. Congress should avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences. However, as a co-sponsor I am in a better position legislatively to voice my concerns, and craft legislation that addresses Internet piracy while still protecting free and open access to the Internet.”
Don’t get me wrong, I understand how congressional politics works and that there may be times when a member has to make a vote or statement that they may not ordinarily make to win some goodwill or a favor, which could include input on legislation. I get that. However, I don’t believe Chambliss here. He was not part of the group of Senate Republicans that sent a letter to Sen. Reid asking that changes be made to the bill to protect free speech and innovation and his prior response to constituents about the bill — well before Wednesday’s protest — did not even mention concerns about what PIPA would do.
But yesterday — two days after the protest, Chambliss changed his tone:
“It was always clear that the PROTECT I.P. Act needed to be perfected, and that legitimate concerns needed to be addressed before this bill could move forward. Given this and my constituents concerns, it was my intention to vote against cloture of this bill. With the majority leader’s decision to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT I.P. Act, I am withdrawing my co-sponsorship to await the resolution of the outstanding issues. However, I still believe that online theft is a serious issue, and that Congress does need to make certain that our laws adequately protect the interests of rights holders. When $58 billion in economic output is lost to the U.S. economy annually due to copyright theft of movies, music, packaged software and video games, and about one-quarter of all internet traffic is copyright infringing, there is a real problem that needs to be dealt with. I have complete faith that we will be able to work out a compromise in the future that addresses this problem, while still promoting free and open access to the internet.”
This statement just so happened to come on the same day that Sen. Reid announced that PIPA wouldn’t come up for a vote. Of course, Chambliss has every reason to be coy about this issue; after all, he’s taken $477,727 from pro-PIPA groups. Not to mention that Chambliss just has a history of doing exactly the wrong thing. Back in 2008, I laid out his history of backing big government and wasteful spending. More recently, Chambliss has been part of the so-called “Gang of Six,” a bipartisan group of Senators with a desire to raise taxes.
It became politically convenient, after the bill was pulled, for Chambliss to come out against it. You shouldn’t believe for a second that he was really going to vote against cloture on PIPA.
Nothing surprises me about Chambliss.