Ben Ray Lujan Backs Off SOPA

Luján was a cosponsor of the controversial legislation.

By Joey Peters

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-Santa Fe, a former cosponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act, withdrew his support for the controversial legislation today.

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Luján made the news official in a post to his Facebook page. 

"I can no longer support SOPA in its current form," he writes. "While we need to take steps to address online piracy, we must also protect the unique qualities of the Internet.

The move comes five days after Wikipedia and other websites protested both SOPA and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act, with Web blackouts and warnings about looming internet censorship. SOPA would have given the Justice Department and copyright holders the power to file court orders against websites suspected of infringing copyrighted material. It would have also given the federal government the ability to shutdown payment operations of suspected websites.

Earlier this month, Luján's office wrote an e-mail to SFR expressing support for SOPA partly because it would help penalize "rogue websites" that sell faulty prescription drugs to seniors.

While the film and music industries have led the charge in supporting the legislation, internet giants like Yahoo and Google have been leading opponents, claiming the legislation would harm Web-based companies with business models that rely on user-driven content.

"We certainly heard a lot from constituents on Wednesday," Andrew Stoddard, a spokesman for Luján, tells SFR. "[Luján] took a hard look at [SOPA] over the weekend."

Among the organizations opposing the legislation is Media Literacy Project, which has been attempting to get the word out to many of New Mexico's lawmakers, including Luján, since the fall.

"We've had various conversations with his staff," Andrea Quijada, executive director of Media Literacy Project, tells SFR. "We're excited to see this."

Several lawmakers across the country dropped their support after last week's protests. Luján's withdraw comes at a politically convenient time. Last Friday, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, SOPA's main sponsor, withdrew the bill from the US House, effectively killing it.

On the Senate side, both Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, remain cosponsors of PIPA.

Santa Fe Reporter

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