Today, many internet sites — from Wikipedia to Google — have chosen to go dark or change their display format, in protest of S. 968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (or the PROTECT IP Act).
Supporters argue the bill will provide much-needed protections for American intellectual property and curb “rogue websites operated and registered overseas.” Opponents warn that the measure as written would “censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business” and want to see significant changes to the draft before Congress considers it. Both sides have mobilized to lobby Washington on the bill.
Though many of the supporters and opponents of the bill are well known, a ThinkProgress examination of the companies and organizations lobbying on the bill yields some unexpected results.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the bill last May. In the two quarters that followed, at least 39 entities reported lobbying in favor of the bill. These included obvious business interests such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Comcast Corp., Disney, the Motion Picture Association of America, News Corp., Nintendo, and Sony Pictures, as well as a few less expects backers including Tiffany & Co., the American Apparel & Footware Association, and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
At least 19 companies and organizations lobbied against the bill. These included Internet companies including eBay, Facebook, Go Daddy, Google, and Yahoo!, but also American Express, Visa, and the Writers Guild of America, West.
Many of these groups also reported lobbying on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the House version of the bill.
While federal lobbying disclosure rules do not require filers to report how much they spend on each specific issue, the supporters total lobbying over the time they lobbied on this (including all other issues) amounted to at least $64 million, while opponents’ total lobbying on all issues totaled at least $12.8 million. (Note: we cannot determine from disclosure forms how much of the lobbying spending was devoted solely to PIPA.)
So whichever side wins, it won’t have come cheap. See our analysis of both the pro- and anti-PIPA lobbying activities below:
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Supporters argue the bill will provide much-needed protections for American intellectual property and curb “rogue websites operated and registered overseas.” Opponents warn that the measure as written would “censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business” and want to see significant changes to the draft before Congress considers it. Both sides have mobilized to lobby Washington on the bill.
Though many of the supporters and opponents of the bill are well known, a ThinkProgress examination of the companies and organizations lobbying on the bill yields some unexpected results.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the bill last May. In the two quarters that followed, at least 39 entities reported lobbying in favor of the bill. These included obvious business interests such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Comcast Corp., Disney, the Motion Picture Association of America, News Corp., Nintendo, and Sony Pictures, as well as a few less expects backers including Tiffany & Co., the American Apparel & Footware Association, and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
At least 19 companies and organizations lobbied against the bill. These included Internet companies including eBay, Facebook, Go Daddy, Google, and Yahoo!, but also American Express, Visa, and the Writers Guild of America, West.
Many of these groups also reported lobbying on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the House version of the bill.
While federal lobbying disclosure rules do not require filers to report how much they spend on each specific issue, the supporters total lobbying over the time they lobbied on this (including all other issues) amounted to at least $64 million, while opponents’ total lobbying on all issues totaled at least $12.8 million. (Note: we cannot determine from disclosure forms how much of the lobbying spending was devoted solely to PIPA.)
So whichever side wins, it won’t have come cheap. See our analysis of both the pro- and anti-PIPA lobbying activities below:
| Supporter of S. 968 | Total Reported Spending on ALL Lobbying (over 2011 periods in which it lobbied on S. 968) |
| ALLIANCE OF AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS | $3,711,300 |
| AMERICAN APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASSOCIATION | $341,735 |
| American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers | $160,000 |
| BEACHBODY LLC (FORMERLY PRODUCT PARTNERS LLC) | $40,000 |
| BROADCAST MUSIC INC | $700,000 |
| CBS | $150,000 |
| CENTER FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM | $10,000 |
| CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U S A | $19,050,000 |
| COMCAST CORPORATION | $8,920,000 |
| COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE | $90,000 |
| Directors Guild of America | $120,000 |
| DISNEY WORLDWIDE SERVICES INC | $1,330,000 |
| Entertainment Software Association | $40,000 |
| ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION (ESA) | $110,000 |
| INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THEATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES | $60,000 |
| INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK ASSOCIATION | $60,000 |
| MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA | $890,000 |
| MOTOR & EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION | $78,287 |
| NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS & SCIENCES | $256,103 |
| National Association of Broadcasters | $6,620,000 |
| NATIONAL CABLE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION | $8,510,000 |
| NATIONAL ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION | $580,000 |
| NATIONAL MUSIC PUBLISHERS’ ASSOCIATION | $50,000 |
| NEWS AMERICA INC | $3,070,000 |
| NINTENDO OF AMERICA INC | $10,000 |
| OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION | $170,000 |
| PEARSON EDUCATION (FKA Pearson, Inc) | $480,000 |
| Professional Photographers of America / Alliance of Visual Artists | $30,000 |
| RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA | $2,380,133 |
| REED ELSEVIER INC | $760,000 |
| SOFTWARE & INFORMATION INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION | $460,000 |
| SONGWRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA | $20,000 |
| SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (FORMERLY SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT) | $950,000 |
| SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT | $280,000 |
| SPECIALTY EQUIPMENT MARKET ASSOCIATION | $100,000 |
| Tiffany & Co. | $70,000 |
| TIME WARNER INC | $1,646,000 |
| UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP | $1,570,000 |
| VIACOM INTERNATIONAL SERVICES INC | $660,000 |
| Opponent of S. 968 | Total Reported Spending on ALL Lobbying (over 2011 periods in which it lobbied on S. 968) |
| Ad Network Educational Consortium | $150,000 |
| AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES | $15,000 |
| AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION | $328,218 |
| American Express Company | $950,000 |
| AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION | $49,911 |
| Business Software Alliance | $140,000 |
| Computer & Communications Industry Association | $10,000 |
| CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION | $1,530,000 |
| eBay Inc. | $110,000 |
| Escape Media Group, Inc. | $120,000 |
| Facebook, Inc. | $680,000 |
| Go Daddy.com | $287,000 |
| GOOGLE INC | $4,440,000 |
| Library Copyright Alliance | $10,000 |
| NetCoalition | $90,000 |
| VALUECLICK INC | $30,000 |
| VISA INC | $3,130,000 |
| Writers Guild of America, West | $60,000 |
| YAHOO! Inc. | $720,000 |
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