We've already written about the wide variety of groups outside of Congress, including legal scholars, high-tech investors, and network engineers, that oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate counterpart, the PROTECT IP Act. More recently, we've seen growing opposition within Congress itself. The latest SOPA opponent: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Reacting to a tweet from San Francisco resident Jeffrey Rodman, the San Francisco Democrat tweeted on Thursday that her colleagues "need to find a better solution than #SOPA." She also urged Congress: "#DontBreakTheInternet." This seems to be the first time Pelosi has weighed in on the SOPA debate, and it suggests that the concerns of SOPA's critics are being heard on the Democratic side of the aisle.
And Pelosi is far from the only member of Congress opposed to the legislation. On Tuesday, ten members of Congress signed a "dear colleague" letter expressing concerns with the bill. The signers were nine Democrats plus Rep Ron Paul (R-TX), a libertarian-leaning candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.
SOPA, they write, is "overly broad and would cause serious and long term damage to the technology industry, one of the few bright spots in our economy." The representatives warned that SOPA would result in "an explosion of innovation-killing lawsuits and litigation."
Also opposed to the legislation is Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA). "I don't believe this bill has any chance on the House floor," Issa told The Hill on Wednesday. "I think it’s way too extreme, it infringes on too many areas that our leadership will know is simply too dangerous to do in its current form."
We haven't seen any reason to believe that Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the bill's champion, is going to abandon his drive for Internet censorship anytime soon. But it's starting to look like a fight opponents can win.
Listing image by Photograph by Campus Progress
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