John Kline: SOPA Infringes on Liberties, Fails to Maintain Freedom of Expression

Republican Congressman John Kline, who represents Minnesota's second district, on Wednesday released a statement on his website concerning the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261), which is currently being reviewed by the House Committee on the Judiciary:

“I am not a co-sponsor of this bill, and do not support the legislation because it fails to maintain the freedom of expression provided by the Constitution and infringes on our liberties," Kline said.

Wikipedia, Google and hundreds of other online sites in English are blacked out Wednesday in an unprecedented protest against the anti-piracy legislation proposed by the U.S. Congress.

They will be dark throughout the day to protest the SOPA being debated in Congress and the PROTECT IP Act making its way through the U.S. Senate.

Patch and its parent company Aol are not participating in the blackout.

"As written, we cannot support the bills. We believe an open Internet is critical for innovation, job creation, and the sustained growth of Internet businesses. We are in the process of working directly with lawmakers to improve the bills," said Tekedra N. Mawakana, AOL's senior vice president of public policy.

To read more about SOPA and the "blackout" hundreds of websites are participating in this week, .