Boosted by the traction received from its anti-SOPA GoDaddy campaign, Reddit members are now going after members of Congress who support the controversial online piracy bill.

Boosted by the traction received from its anti-SOPA GoDaddy campaign, Reddit members are now going after members of Congress who support the controversial online piracy bill.

"Let's pick ONE Senator [who] voted for NDAA/SOPA and destroy him like we're doing for GoDaddy," Reddit user digitalboy wrote yesterday. "Relentlessly investigate and find skeletons in his closet, money bomb is opponents, etc."

Reddit users soon nominated Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, because he is up for re-election next year. On another thread, however, user cazadoremi said it was "vital" to also select a Democrat who supports SOPA so the effort is not viewed as partisan.

The NDAA is the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill authorizes funds for the Department of Defense, but includes a controversial provision that allows for the indefinite detention of terror suspects.

SOPA, meanwhile, is the Stop Online Piracy Act. It would expand the ability of the Justice Department to go after Web sites overseas that traffic in fake goods like counterfeit purses or prescription drugs. According to the bill's sponsor, Rep. Lamar Smith, the DOJ would have to get a court order against an infringing site, and if granted, could request that the site be blocked. Search engines would then have to remove links to those sites. Critics, howeverlike Google, Facebook, and Twitterare concerned that the bill is too far-reaching and broad, and could potentially harm Web sites that don't actually contain infringing content or were acting in good faith.

Registrar GoDaddy initially supported SOPA as "a welcome step in the right direction." But after Reddit members to switch their sites from GoDaddy to another registrar over SOPA support, GoDaddy for the bill. There were reports that GoDaddy then customers from pulling their sites from the company, but GoDaddy denied the accusations.

Today, meanwhile, was supposed to be boycott GoDaddy day, but some users got off to an early start.

SOPA: Major Election Issue?

The House Judiciary Committee without voting on SOPA; it is expected to take up the bill again next year. A Senate version, the PROTECT IP Act, is on the schedule for late January.

In advance of those votes, Reddit is now targeting members who support SOPA and the PROTECT IP Act, including Sen. Corker. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On the other thread, users suggested Democratic Reps. Howard Berman, Ted Deutch, John Larson, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

"Only attacking Republicans, no matter how dirty they are, will muddle our message with partisan politics. It's not realistic to attack everyone who supported SOPA and support everyone who didn't," cazadoremi wrote. "Reddit still needs to focus it's resources on the minimum number of congresspeople. So let's vote for two and get the party started!"

It remains to be seen how much of an impact the campaigns will have on members' re-election bids. As another Redditor pointed out, the members running this campaign should probably come up with a viable alternative to the member they are seeking to oust, lest they be replaced with someone even less desirable.

Another suggested the campaign will be a good indicator of the political power of the Web.

"This is not about a particular candidate or even a particular issue. This is an exercise to see if we can turn Reddit into a powerful political force for good," BlueScreenD wrote. "If we CAN, then we can wield this powerful force even more effectively in the future, and that possibility is what makes this important. The candidates that we are choosing to campaign for/against are not being chosen simply because we support or dislike them, we are choosing them also because they are ripe 'testing grounds' for this exercise."

User WaydownLo was a bit more skeptical. "Reddit will be perpetually the more ostentatious, self-aggrandizing cousin to 4chan," he wrote.

What do you think? Can Reddit or similar sites be a force for political change? Is support or opposition to SOPA and PROTECT IP enough to make you vote against your current member of Congress? Let us know in the comments.