The ESA might have been thwarted with the death of SOPA, but they have still been backing PIPA in the Senate to the tune of $190,000. It has been revealed that the ESA has been paying two separate lobbyist groups to help spread pro-PIPA sentiments, offering $60,000 to The Smith-Free Group (and later another $50,000) and a total of $80,000 to the Franklin Square Group.
The goal of the ESA was to have both firms push anti-piracy, tax, education and energy legislation. Franklin Square Group was specifically paid to cover PIPA and immigration policy topics on the Hill.
The news was revealed to Kotaku, and has yet to be addressed by the ESA. Records on hand show that the ESA was involved, and that discussions were to be held, but there is no record on which stance they took with PIPA. ESA’s support of SOPA might be something of an indicator as to what exactly they have been trying to accomplish with PIPA.
