SOPA, PIPA Support is Crumbling

Internet protests against proposed anti-piracy legislation in the house and senate have led a number of congresspeople to back away from their previous support of the bills. As the New York Times summed it up:

It appeared by Wednesday evening that Congress would follow Bank of America, Netflix and Verizon as the latest institution to change course in the face of a netizen revolt.

Indeed, senators are “rushing for the exits,” Ars Technica says, with 18 members–including seven co-sponsors–have joined the opposition. Most of these are Republicans. House Speaker John Boehner told reporters that while it wasn’t clear what would happen to the bill, it’s “it’s pretty clear to many of us that there’s a lack of consensus at this point. And I would expect that the committee would continue to work to try to build a consensus before this bill moves.”

Not all of the protests happened online. New York Tech Meetup says 2,000 people rallied to protest the measures. Apparently, their Senators–Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats–weren’t impressed. They reiterated their support for the bills.