Dodd said that Hollywood donors are watching lawmakers' stances on SOPA and PIPA. Dodd petition picks up steam

About 17,000 activists have signed an online petition to pressure the White House into investigating Chris Dodd for comments he made in a Fox News interview.

In the Fox interview, Dodd implied that President Barack Obama was risking Hollywood campaign cash by siding with technology companies on two major anti-piracy bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).


“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake,” Dodd told Fox. “Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”

More than 17,000 signatures have been collected in just over 48 hours on the White House’s “We the People” website. If the petition reaches 25,000 signatures, the Obama administration has pledged to respond.

“This is an open admission of bribery and a threat designed to provoke a specific policy goal,” the petition states. “This is a brazen flouting of the “above the law” status people of Dodd’s position and wealth enjoy.”

SOPA and PIPA were tabled last week in Congress after widespread protests led by major websites like Wikipedia and Reddit. It represented a major loss for the former Conn. Senator, who took the helm of the MPAA last year, and for the MPAA which found itself outmaneuvered by the untraditional online protest these bills sparked.

In a statement, the MPAA’s spokesman Howard Gantman said that Dodd’s statements were taken out of context.

“Senator Dodd was merely making the obvious point that people support politicians whose views coincide with their own,” Gantman said. “When politicians take positions that people disagree with, those people tend not to support those politicians.”

Activists have until February 20, to collect the necessary signatures.

This article tagged under: Chris Dodd

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