Reddit Announces Blackout to Protest SOPA

Reddit Announces Blackout to Protest SOPA

mashable.com

Reddit, in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), will be shutting down normal operations on Jan. 18 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

During that window, visitors to the site will find a message about SOPA and its sister bill in the Senate, the Protect IP Act (PIPA). There will also be links which will provide more information about the two bills and suggestions on how to take action against SOPA and PIPA.

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Will Google, Facebook, others 'nuke' Internet over SOPA?
How SOPA could kill ATS and free speech online
Boycott SOPA: An Android app that terrifies publishers and politicians
SOPA - Worse Than You Think

Again, these types of actions are necessary, unfortunately. Thank you Reddit.

The SOPA legislation needs scrubbed and washed down the drain.

Having DancedWithWolves in politics a time or two, the thing I learned is there is no ONE WAY to accomplish anything in government - good or bad. In fact, one of the major mistakes politicians make is to assume that because they have come up with A solution - that they have found THE solution.

The SOPA solution is not the right solution to people pirating movies. Politicians become entrenched in one solution and as more information on some of the ramifications of their policy choices come to light, they become unwilling to consider other options.

Taking on government to try to lobby a position, without the might of a DC lobbying firm behind you, takes more than making them think about votes. Yes, that is one card we consumers and citizens have to play, but we can't rely on only one approach.

The recent Boycott SOPA adroid app is one of many. Each tool is merely one more tactic to use in convincing the house, senate, president and yes, even corporations that SOPA is wrong. The way to spin a politician's head is to come at them from so many angles they didn't expect, that they are forced to pause and re-evaluate their objective and mission given the developing climate. Live fire (boycotts and blackouts) from fronts you hadn't anticipated helps. It is one more jenga block pulled from this legislation's tower. Enough blocks pulled, brings it down.

Example:

Paul Ryan's SOPA Stance Changes: GOP Representative Comes Out Against Internet Piracy Bill

In a statement released on his official website, the House Budget Committee chairman outlined why he does not support the bill, noting that the current openness offered by the web should stay as is.

"The internet is one of the most magnificent expressions of freedom and free enterprise in history. It should stay that way. While H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, attempts to address a legitimate problem, I believe it creates the precedent and possibility for undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse. I do not support H.R. 3261 in its current form and will oppose the legislation should it come before the full House."

Mashable notes that a Reddit campaign may have played a role in Ryan's decision. "Operation Pull Ryan" was introduced last month, directing criticism against the congressman over his then-pro stance toward the bill. Ryan has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from organizations that support the initiative.

Rob Zerban, Ryan's 2012 Democratic challenger, has been part of the Reddit thread. The Kenosha County Supervisor applauded Ryan's change of heart as an example of social networking power.

"This is an extraordinary victory," Zerban wrote. "Reddit was able to force the House Budget chair to reverse course -- shock waves will be felt throughout the establishment in Washington today -- other lawmakers will take notice."

Source

Protests against SOPA need to come from many fronts - including a blackout.

With NDAA and now SOPA, we need to app(ly) every tool we can.

It is incumbent upon each of us to find ways to be heard by those in a position to make or influence policy, when we say,"SOPA SUCKS." We need them to pause and realize that yes, sometimes legislation (although it sounded peachy in the development stage) just really, really sucks, upon review.

A lot of paper and legislative drafts come across any elected officials desk on many different topics. I dearly hope many more of them reconsider their support upon reflection. Unfortunately, this hunk of paper needs to go in the circular file.

Anyone else ever feel like a Who from Whoville trying to yell out to those in power, "We're here. We're here. We're here?"

mashable.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

ETA: And so it continues. Twitter users changing avatars to a black banner.

If you've been on Twitter today, chances are you've seen a change in some of the avatars.

Instead of regular pictures, about 2,500 people have changed their images to a black banner that says STOP SOPA using BlackoutSOPA.org.

Source

Wow! Bet a ton of work will get done that day!

It will save the world hundreds of millions of hours of lost productivity...

Can't really seeing this as having any effect. I'm a big fan of Reddit but the world won't stop spinning if they are down. Inconvenient sure but otherwise so what. Now obvious big name sites who have threatened is another matter of course.

brill

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


It's about time, SOPA is one of these bills that is trying to impose cyber tyranny on the people. I am glad they are doing something like this because it is not fair to the people.

I don't think its to really freak out the public with the fact they're down. Its to get the message out about SOPA/PIPA.

That site has thousands of lurkers that never bother to register, but check it daily. Not only will it be those who don't register, but the hundreds of thousands who do will be be greeted with a message and links to information when they try to get on the site that day.

Originally posted by brill
Can't really seeing this as having any effect. I'm a big fan of Reddit but the world won't stop spinning if they are down. Inconvenient sure but otherwise so what. Now obvious big name sites who have threatened is another matter of course.

brill

If facebook, youtube, and google did this, then there would be a massive, world-wide effect. But can those sites afford all the lost revenue from it?

major organisations like google know the ip range of the us gov and agencies so why not block those for several days so people in congress and the house can't use sites like wikipedia and google sites ect ?
then the people there whom don't now are not willing to know what would happen these acts wil do in real life get a feeling of what will happen if they vote for these acts.

Originally posted by MarkLuitzen
major organisations like google know the ip range of the us gov and agencies so why not block those for several days so people in congress and the house can't use sites like wikipedia and google sites ect ?
then the people there whom don't now are not willing to know what would happen these acts wil do in real life get a feeling of what will happen if they vote for these acts.

I really like this idea... Of course the folks in the government may already be blocked to such sites due to their filtering policy. But I do think that they should do that block in addition to the blackout for the day.

Not sure if having an official planned day will do much though, as it is similar to those gas protests, folks will just fill up before, and after. With the websites folks will just mark it on the schedule and avoid it without a second thought. They really need to start just doing random rolling blackouts so it is unplanned and inconvenient.

Maybe ATS should follow suit and blackout same time.
I mean we already have those awesome sopa awareness ads that keep on freakin me out haha. maybe this thing could snowball and other big place would do it too?

reply to post by white_raven


I was thinking about that too.

ATS should also do a one day blackout !

Oh boy, the US govt is sure sowing enough seeds to start its own winter/summer of discontent!

And with the 3 Republican stooges wanting to make PORN illegal, there's gotta be a BREAKING POINT

Romney, Gingrich and Santorum : we will make porn illegal

Thanks for the input all.

Today, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales posted comments on his personal Wiki page indicating Wikipedia may join Reddit in this Blackout.

Quickly because I'm about to log out for a couple of hours. I'm all in favor of it, and I think it would be great if we could act quickly to coordinate with Reddit. I'd like to talk to our government affairs advisor to see if they agree on this as useful timing, but assuming that's a greenlight, I think that matching what Reddit does (but in our own way of course) per the emerging consensus on how to do it, is a good idea. But that means we need to move forward quickly on a concrete proposal and vote - we don't have the luxury of time that we usually have, in terms of negotiating with each other for weeks about what's exactly the best possible thing to do. As I understand it, the Foundation is talking to people about how we can geolocate and guide people to their Congressperson, etc. Geoff will know about that. Our task is to decide to do it with a thumbs up / thumbs down vote.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 15:09, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

Jimbo Wales Wiki post

I love reddit!
Not as much as I love ATS though

Originally posted by brill
Can't really seeing this as having any effect. I'm a big fan of Reddit but the world won't stop spinning if they are down.

Quite the contrary. I am STILL amazed how many people have not a clue what SOPA is. A high traffic site like reddit and this protest will make people talk ----> MEDIA COVERAGE ----> MORE AWARENESS!

It's a good thing.

reply to post by DJM8507


Can they afford it? Absolutely.

Do they want to have to afford it? Probably not.

Don't hold your breath, friends, Facebook and Google aren't going to touch this thing.

The sentiment is noble, but unfortunately, the action itself isn't likely to be something that anyone will care about. Reddit is probably exactly the type of site that the fascist geriatrics in the American government want to kill, so them going down would likely be seen as something positive.

I saw an interview with Giuliani and a number of the other usual governatorial demoniacs on YouTube not long ago, where they were discussing how outrageous it was that the Internet had such a complete lack of control.

That is all this is about. They want control, over everything, full stop. They don't care whether or not something is positive or negative, beneficial or harmful, good or bad. If they do not control it, they are not willing to allow it to continue to exist. Governments have disliked the Internet for years, and that is the sole reason why. Not because the net itself is actually detrimental or otherwise; but simply because it was not under governmental control.

I think we will see much more of this, because a LOT of websites would be affected by it.. so they can spend half a day exposing the truth, or do nothing and possibly lose their website forever.

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


This is something, Reddit is huge, an amazing tool of the INTERNET and for its best friends. This really says something about how # is going to go down in the near future

Thanks Reddit we will miss u,...good thing it isn't for long :/

ATS needs to be more proactive in the defence of the internet and exposing the SOPA legislation for what it is- a draconian censorhip bill, even if it is well intended. It concerns me especially as I am outside the US and this legislation would affect me if it is passed as most webistes are hosted in America.

What can we do? I suppose if everyone posted information about SOPA and various petitions on their facebooks (granted many of us here don't have an account), twitter, YouTube or any other form of social networking. We could send out mass emails to all our contacts informing them on the SOPA and PIPA legislation while also directing them to online petitions. Many of us here are incapable of doing more. I am not in the position to contact senators, given I am not an American citizen, but those who are should do so. We need to seriously mobilize the whole community here. We all have our differences and can barely agree on anything, but every ATS user (if they want to continue using ATS) must agree that this proposed legislation is intolerable. I may be utopian at the moment, but lets actually make a difference and protect free speech.