> This is a good thing, right?

Yes. Lobbyist = legitimate bribery, and we need somebody bribing congressmen to start voting our way on patents and copyright (among other things.)

Of course, they'll be bribed to vote against small company startups getting in the face of goog and fb, so it's a double-edged sword.

Probably for a few decades until these companies lose competitiveness and regain it through legislation.

I hadn't thought about this, but it's a great point. They certainly have the money to influence politics in many ways, not all of which may be good.

While this may be a step forward in the fight against SOPA-style bills, this is a huge step backwards in the fight to take money out of politics.

It's certainly good in the "the enemy of our enemy is our friend" sense. Like other commenters have stated, it's also probably actually good in the short term.

it depends whether you care about the local or global maximum.