Big Internet Players Blackout in Protest Against SOPA

Today, January 18, marks a day in history of the first-ever Internet strike. Big players in the Internet world, Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress, Mozilla ? just to name a few, are blacking out their respective web sites to protest against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). Google did not shut down their web site/service, but they did blackout their logo in opposition. The bill was recently pulled from the floor of the House of Representatives, stopping the vote in its tracks. But ? the controversial topic is not dead yet ? come January 24 Congress will vote on the Protect IP Act, which, reports say, will censor the Internet.

 

What do you think? If you need help deciding - I have collected five SOPA articles that may shed some light on the issue.

1. SOPA will not move forward in the House as the official vote was cancelled and the bill has been yanked from the floor. Representative and SOPA opponent Darrell Issa cheered this as a win for the internet community ? but he warned that SOPA?s Senate cousin PIPA is still a major concern. Source; WebProNews.com
2. Tomorrow?They're protesting Internet piracy bills currently being considered in the U.S. House and Senate. Video Source; CNET.com
3. The copyright wars are just the beta version of a long coming war on computation. The entertainment industry is just the first belligerents to take up arms, and we tend to think of them as particularly successful. After all, here is SOPA, trembling on the verge of passage, ready to break the Internet on a fundamental level? all in the name of preserving Top 40 music, reality TV shows, and Ashton Kutcher movies. Source; BoingBoing.net
4. The freedom, innovation, and economic opportunity that the Internet enables is in jeopardy. Congress is considering legislation that will dramatically change your Internet experience and put an end to reddit and many other sites you use every day. Source; Reddit.com
5. "Some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging," said Senator Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America. "It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information... A so-called 'blackout' is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals." Source, BBC

Some recent #SOPA tweets...

 

 

What do you think? Is shutting down/blacking out a big time service like Wikipedia and Craigslist a good idea? Will it make their point?

 

 

 

Source: http://www.deepripples.com/blog/big-players-blackout-in-protest-against-sopa

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