Local Tea Party joins SOPA protest

By Michael W. Shapiro

In solidarity with major websites like Wikipedia, the Waco Tea Party is joining an e-protest of anti-piracy legislation in the U.S. House and Senate.

Critics of the bills have said the measures would not achieve the goal of stopping "rogue" sites that steal intellectual property, but would stifle innovation and lead to censorship. They've organized an online blackout day today, where a number of sites have shut down key components of their websites.

The House version of the legislation is referred to as SOPA, shorthand for the Stop Online Piracy Act. The Senate bill is PIPA, or the Protect IP Act.

Supporters include the Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Chamber officials told the BBC the legislation is "narrowly tailored and commercially reasonable for taking an effective swipe at the business models of rogue sites."

The Waco Tea Party, in an email blast to its members, suggested the legislation — sponsored in the House by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas — would lead to the web pages of political activists being taken down.

"Okay, so our website hasn't been shut down... yet," the email reads. It goes on to call the legislation "dangerous" and asks recipients to contact Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, and Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison to lobby against the two bills.

Genny Carter, a Flores spokeswoman, said he "has significant concerns that the language in the bill as it currently stands is too broad and could have many unintended consequences."

"Congressman Flores does not support the SOPA legislation in its current form," Carter said.

Cornyn said in a release Wednesday that criticisms of SOPA and PIPA need more discussion as Congress tries to address online theft of content.

"Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about the internet and free speech necessitate a more thoughtful, deliberative process," Cornyn wrote.

Bell County's representative, John Carter, R-Round Rock, is a cosponsor of SOPA. The bill hasn't come out of committee yet.

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