Jan. 18, 2012 - On a recent episode of "Meet the Press," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threw his support behind advancing legislation to curb online piracy. Both chambers of Congress have drafted legislation to address online piracy from foreign websites, but both bills have faced strong public outcry that has put their chances of passage in doubt.
MapLight has conducted an analysis of campaign contributions from key industry groups to members of the U.S. Senate (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2011) and found that:
- Entertainment interest groups that support these bills gave 7.2 times as much ($14,423,991) to members of the U.S. Senate as Internet interest groups that oppose these bills ($2,011,332).
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has received 4.8 times as much from entertainment interest groups that support these bills ($571,500) as from Internet interest groups that oppose these bills ($118,050).
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