Political support for controversial online anti-piracy legislation appeared to be crumbling on Wednesday as leading websites staged an unprecedented one-day protest against the measures.
Wikipedia, the sixth most-visited website on the planet, pulled its English site offline Wednesday in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa), which is currently pasing though the House of Representatives, and the Protect IP Act (Pipa), a similar bill under debate in the Senate.
Other tech giants, including popular news sharing site Reddit, also pulled the plug while Google censored its name.
The protest gained fresh momentum Wednesday when senator Marco Rubio of Florida withdrew his support for Pipa. Rubio is a rising Republican star who is seen as a possible vice president pick this year and a future presidential candidate.
Rubio said that since the introduction of the bill "legitimate concerns" had been expressed about the impact it could have on access to the internet "and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government's power to impact the internet." On his Facebook page, Rubio wrote: "Congress should listen and avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences."
He was followed by senator John Cornyn, a Texan Republican, who also expressed his views via Facebook. "SOPA: better to get this done right rather than fast and wrong. Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about unintended damage to the internet and innovation in the tech sector require a more thoughtful balance, which will take more time," he wrote.
Two other Republican representatives, Ben Quayle from Arizona, and Lee Terry from Nebraska, also pulled their names from Sopa.
The Republican backlash follows clear signals from the Obama administration that they will not pass Sopa or Pipa in their current form.
"While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet," White House officials said this weekend.
But despite the victories, the tech community remained concerned that anti-piracy legislation would be rushed through Congress. Yesterday Chris Dodd, former senator and chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), slammed Wikipedia and others protest plans, calling them "dangerous" and a "gimmick". He called on Congress to engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.
A vote on Pipa is still expected in the senate on January 24. Protesters have been demonstrating outside the offices of New York senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who have supported the bill.
"This is the biggest online protest in history, and it's no wonder," said Holmes Wilson, co-founder of Fight For The Future, a lobbying group. "Internet users have grown up around the abuse of copyright laws to punish political speech, creativity, and successful businesses. So the thought of giving rightsholders the power to erase entire sites from the web is horrifying to us."
Roughly 300 protesters assembled in front of the offices of New York senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer this afternoon to denounce the legislators' co-sponsorship of PIPA. Gathered inside a barricade pen, the demonstrators heard from an array of speakers, including a number of prominent figures in the tech industry.
New York Tech Meet Up Chairman, Andrew Rasiej, coordinated the demonstration and introduced each speaker. Rasiej claimed the protest was essential to maintaining the vitality of New York City vibrant tech sector.
"This is about the future of New York, jobs for New York and the future of the open web," he said. "What we're seeing here is a classic example of our 20th century politics clashing with the realities of a 21st century connected humanity and a global economy."
Rasiej, and the string of speakers he introduced, called on senators Schumer and Gillibrand to pull their support for the controversial legislation. Many pointed out that the tech industry in New York city employs tens of thousands of individuals; including women and young people, who are often excluded from other industries. On top of that, the speakers added, the industry continues to grow.
Andrew McLaughlin, executive vice president of Tumblr, said a free and open internet empowers disenfranchised movements and people to have their voices heard.
Meanwhile, Reddit's co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, said the struggle to combat the bills was, "a fight to save democracy."
"Let this be the beginning," Ohanian added.
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