Dear Friend,
Its come to this. Motion Picture Association of America p******** Chris Dodd has threatened to cut off Hollywood campaign contributions to any member of Congress who doesnt pass his Internet-censorship legislation. He said:
Those who count on quote Hollywood for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully whos going to stand up for them when their job is at stake ... Dont ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then dont pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.
Translation: Politicians who oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or the Protect IP Act (PIPA) could be out of a job if they dont obey Hollywood.
Tell Congress to give back the MPAAs dirty money.
This is what corruption looks like in Washington. Its outrageous that Dodd himself a former senator is leveling these threats. Our elected officials must send a signal back to Dodd and all other lobbyists that our nations laws cant be bought.
Today, Free Press is calling for the top congressional recipients of the MPAAs cash to give it back. Congress must make it clear to the world that it wont be bullied and bribed into supporting censorship.
Call on Congress to cleanse itself of dirty campaign cash.
Dodds statement exposes an ugly truth about Washington: All too often, big corporations expect big favors in return for big checks. The MPAA assumed it could buy itself a new law in the form of SOPA and PIPA but last weeks grassroots uprising, in which millions took action against the bills, put an end to that.
Now Dodd is trying to blackmail Washington until he gets his way. Its time to reject pay-for-play politics.
Over the last three years, the MPAA has contributed more than $85,000 to Congress.2 Sens. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Rep. John Boehner (Ohio) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are high on the list of recipients.
With your help we can urge these and other members of Congress to stand up to Dodds threats. Sign our letter to the top recipients of the MPAAs dirty money and the Free Press Action Fund will see that they get your message.
By getting these politicians to return the MPAAs money we will let all corporate lobbyists know that this is no way to run a democracy.
Thanks,
Josh Levy
Internet Campaign Director
Free Press Action Fund
SavetheInternet
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media.