As prominent websites including Wikipedia blacked out their pages Wednesday in protest of online piracy bills pending in Congress, the legislation lost support among some co-sponsors and several Illinois politicians.

One U.S. Senate co-sponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act publicly withdrew his support Wednesday. Two co-sponsors of the similar Protect IP Act in the U.S. House of Representatives followed suit.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) wrote in an email to The Daily that she opposes the House SOPA bill, an attitude she said many of her constituents share.

“SOPA is overly broad and strikes the wrong balance between protecting property rights and promoting innovation,” Schakowsky wrote. “This bill would stifle Internet innovation.”

Critics of the legislation, including Schakowsky, argue the bills would enact burdensome regulatory costs and give the government too much authority to shut down websites suspected of copyright violation – even if they are later cleared from the charges.

In a statement issued Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) stressed the Senate PIPA bill would suppress the “inalienable right” of freedom of speech.

“While we should protect American intellectual property, consumer safety and human rights, we should do so in a manner that specifically targets criminal activity,” Kirk said in the statement. “This extreme measure stifles First Amendment rights and Internet innovation.”

U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), whose district lies directly northwest of Evanston, utilized the Internet as a platform to announce his opposition to SOPA on Wednesday.

“Thank God twitter isn’t blocked today so I can tell you that I refuse to vote for #SOPA,” Walsh tweeted.

Not all Illinois politicians oppose the legislation, though. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) remains listed as a PIPA co-sponsor.

– Kimberly Railey