Lawmakers that support SOPA can say that they haven't been bought and paid for by special interest groups, but an article on MapLight shows that the 32 sponsors of the bill have received four times more campaign contributions from the entertainment industry than from tech companies that oppose it. I guess it's just a coincidence that they received all that money - an estimated $1.9 million collectively - and that it has no bearing or influence on them trying to ram the bill through committee without adding any amendments or listening to any tech experts on the bill's impact on the integrity of the internet. Yeah.
According to MapLight, the 32 sponsors of SOPA received $1,983,596 in campaign contributions since January 1, 2009, four times of that from tech companies who are opposed to the bill ($524,977).
The breakdown from Jan. 1, 2009 - Jun. 30, 2011 by industry is as follows: $273,744 from Computer software companies and $251,233 from online computer services for a total of $524,977.
In the same period cable & satellite TV production & distribution companies gave $672,750, commercial TV & radio stations gave $265,050, the entertainment industry and associated trade groups gave $320,800, the movie industry gave out $282,150, the recording industry gave out $317,446, and TV production & distribution companies gave out $125,400. If you put all that together it comes to $1,983,596.
If citizens have any doubt that money is influencing policy in Washington, all they need to do is look at those numbers to see. Do lawmakers really believe strongly in this issue or do they believe strongly in the money that will help power their current and future campaigns?
