How The Internet Beat Lobbyists At Their Own Game

When advocates of the open Internet rose up to thwart Congress' efforts to pass the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act (known more colloquially as "SOPA/PIPA"), author and academic Jeff Jarvis took to these pages to proclaim, "We Are The Lobbyists Now." Well, according to one lobbyist who fought this battle on the other side, that's exactly right.

In the latest edition of "Drinking And Talking," The Huffington Post's Sam Stein gets a view from the trenches in the war over SOPA/PIPA from John Feehery of QGA Public Affairs, who participated in the fight as a lobbyist for the legislation's proponents. Feehery's bottom line? "We were rolled over by the Internet," he says.

In the video above, Feehery further expounds on the ordinary "Internet denizens" who rose up to become "the new face of lobbying" and beat an industry -- led by Motion Picture Association of America Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd -- that was, to his estimation, "so far behind on how to mobilize people."

You can watch "Drinking And Talking" in its entirety by clicking here.