While much of the Internet was “blacked out” Wednesday to voice opposition to a pair of bills which opponents say would amount to online censorship, activists promise the day of protest is “just the beginning” in the fight to defeat the controversial legislation.

Websites from Wikipedia to Google and others have joined in the protest, in which they have functionally or symbolically “gone dark” to raise awareness of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

“The blacklist bills are dangerous: if made into law, they would hamper innovation, kill jobs, wreak havoc on Internet security, and undermine the free speech principles upon which our country was founded,” says the blog at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an organization opposed to the bills. “But deep-pocketed lobbyists are trying to ram this legislation through as quickly as possible, hoping elected officials will turn a blind eye to the widespread opposition to these bills. We can’t let that happen.”

The chief bipartisan opponents of the bill, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), say they are committed to fighting online piracy. However, they and others contend the current legislation is overly broad and could allow the federal government to shut down entire websites without recourse.

Issa used the Twitter website Wednesday to announce that conservative Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has dropped his support of PIPA. “Much more education for Members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential,” Issa reportedly says in a statement.

The widespread pressure against the bill appears to be working, as its chief sponsors in Congress say they will rewrite the legislation to remove the controversial Domain Name System (DNS) blocking provisions.

EFF says opponents also plan to urge lawmakers to defeat the legislation next week, once the Senate returns.

“We’re also gearing up for a day of action on January 23rd when the Senate will be back in session and getting ready to vote on the Protect-IP Act, SOPA’s sister bill,” the EFF blog says. “We’re calling on digital activists and Internet users everywhere to call Senators on the 24th and voice their opposition to this censorship legislation. Despite the chorus of opposition from human rights advocates and the tech community, Senators are still trying to push through this dangerous censorship bill. We need all hands on deck to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.

Facing a federal probe, Google is increasing its efforts to influence Washington.

For anyone standing on the street with Occupy Wall Street who may think that Google’s funny name and disarming homepage doodles set it apart from the world of corporate influence, the folks at Consumer Watchdog have a message: Don’t you believe it.

If anything, the Internet search giant actually is ramping up its efforts to influence Washington policymakers in the face of a federal investigation, the nonprofit advocacy group says.

Consumer Watchdog says that Google reported it spent $5.9 million on government lobbying during the first three quarters of the year, a 51 percent increase from the $3.9 million it spent in the comparable period a year earlier. In all of 2010 Google spent $5.2 million to influence policy makers.

The organization notes that Google spokeswoman Samantha Smith offered this explanation: “We want to help policy makers understand our business and the work we do to keep the Internet open, to encourage innovation and to create economic opportunity. Lobbying is part of that process.”

Consumer Watchdog disputed that claim, pointing out that Google currently is under federal investigation, reportedly for violating antitrust laws by unfairly ranking search results to favor its own businesses and increasing rivals’ ad rates. 

“The fact is the company is facing a well-deserved antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and wants to escape any consequences for its anticompetitive behavior,” says John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project. “They’ve got billions in profits stashed in off-shore tax havens and are pressing for a tax-holiday to bring it into the United States.”

Studies, however, have shown that the last time a tax holiday was tried in 2004 there was little impact on hiring or domestic investment. Most of the money was used by the companies bringing back profits at bargain tax rates to pay dividends or buy back stock.

“Google simply wants to buy influence. It’s the American corporate way,” says Simpson. “Google’s attempt to dress it up as an educational effort doesn’t change the stark reality.”

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.