Yesterday’s anti-SOPA blackout was effective:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) withdrew as a co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act in the Senate, while Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) said they were pulling their names from the companion House bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Opponents of the legislation, led by large Internet companies, say its broad definitions could lead to censorship of online content and force some websites to shut down.

Google also says they received over 4.5 million signatures on their anti-SOPA petition yesterday.

This is democracy in action and the people have spoken. Will Patrick Leahy and Lamar Smith listen to the people? Most likely not as the donations they get from pro-SOPA industry speaks louder than the actual people, but hopefully enough of their colleagues will listen that this legislation never even sees a vote or suffers a horrible death on the floor.

In related news, Hollywood bigs are stopping donations to the Obama campaign because of his opposition to the legislation. Perhaps it’s time to target these industries. A good way will be to stay away from the movie theaters and stop buying DVDs. Time to hit the fat-cats where it matters the most – in their wallets.