The Hypocrites Of Congress: Who Voted Against Net Neutrality, But For SOPA/PIPA

from the just-checking dept

But some people fear that without government intervention, that entrepreneurs and innovators are going to hijack the internet that you enjoy... the World Wide Web! This has never happened and there has never been a time that a consumer has needed a federal bureaucrat to intervene.... Here's what they want to do: Take the private internet and put it all under government control. Think about it: what's going to happen to the next Facebook innovator, if they have to go apply with the government to get approval to develop a new application. And what would happen to your small business, if you had to depend on internet speeds that Uncle Sam says is going to be okay.... We want to keep [the internet] open, free and prosperous.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, California

Rep. John Carter, Texas

Rep. Steven Chabot, Ohio

Rep. Elton Gallegly, California

Rep. Robert Goodlatte, Virginia

Rep. Tim Griffin, Arkansas

Rep. Peter King, New York

Rep. Thomas Marino, Pennsylvania

Rep. Alan Nunnelee, Mississippi

Rep. Dennis Ross, Florida

Rep. Steve Scalise, Louisiana

Rep. Lee Terry, Nebraska

Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire

Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri

Sen. John Boozman, Arkansas

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Georgia

Sen. Thad Cochran, Mississippi

Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee

Sen. Michael Enzi, Wyoming

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina

Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa

Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah

Sen. John Isakson, Georgia

Sen. James Risch, Idaho

Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida

Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana

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An interesting article by Grant Gross over at PC World notes the hypocrisy of many in Congress who screamed loudly about how net neutrality was a dangerous attempt by government to "regulate the internet," but are now the main supporters of SOPA. We already highlighted one of these, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who went so far as to create a video hysterically warning about the dangers of regulating the internet As we noted at the time, many of her arguments apply equally to SOPA's regulation of the internet, but she just doesn't seem to get it. Here are just a few of her arguments:How that doesn't apply equally to SOPA... I don't know. But she's listed as a co-sponsor. Funny, that. Especially since SOPA is likely to have a much more direct impact on "the next Facebook innovator" than anything in the (yes, poorly designed) net neutrality rules put forth by the FCC.Unfortunately, Gross's article only names a few names. But not all of them. So we thought we might as well do that. Below, for your viewing pleasure, the list of hypocritical Congressional Reps and Senators who claim to be against regulating the internet, but have no problem doing so when it comes to SOPA or PROTECT IP (PIPA):Of course, the really amazing thing is that SOPA and PIPA are muchabout regulating the internet than the FCC's "net neutrality" rules are. I already think the FCC's rules are pretty silly (designed more to protect a few big businesses), but they'll have little to no impact on everyday internet startups. That'strue of SOPA/PIPA. Those rules will have a massive impact on every day startups. So how can supporters of SOPA/PIPA claim to be against "regulating the internet" while signing on to a bill that is almost entirely about regulating the internet?

Filed Under: copyright, internet, net neutrality, protect ip, regulations, sopa