Reid Delays Anti-Piracy Vote

As Republicans solidify PIPA opposition
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2012 9:38 AM CST

Harry Reid has postponed Tuesday's test vote on the Senate's anti-piracy bill, after a storm of online protests convinced several of the bill's co-sponsors to switch sides, the AP reports. Democrats have now emerged as the main backers of the PROTECT IP Act, the Wall Street Journal reports; at least 14 Republican senators came out against the bill following the protest, compared to seven Democrats, and Mitch McConnell had called on Reid to postpone the vote.

Ex-senator and top MPAA lobbyist Chris Dodd warned Democrats today that if they opposed the bill, they might not get their usual flood of Hollywood campaign cash. "Don't take us for granted," he said on Fox News. On the other side, European Union digital commissioner Neelie Kroes tweeted that she was "glad tide is turning on SOPA," in a rare comment on US policy, the AP reports. "Speeding is illegal, too: but you don't put speed bumps on the motorway," she added later. (More Harry Reid stories.)

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