sorry, but i completly disagree!

first, i am from the uk but completly Support the people in the opposition of SOPA / PIPA.

This protest is just not fit for purpose and the only people that are feeling the brunt of this protest are the reegular citizens of the internet.

The initial plan to black out the web was all well and good, but the thing is the sites that are taking up the cause will do absolutely nothing to sway the opinion of the politicians who are trying to have SOPA/PIPA passed as law.

As we all know, the people who are trying to bring about SOPA/PIPA dont know much, if anything about how the internet actualy works as all they really go online for is twitter, email , maybe some facebook and most likely some news/sports news. This is where the protest becomes pointless, the sites which have been blacked out really have no bearing on the lifes of these politicians... does anyone really think that wiki or reddit, biong being down for a day will even be noticed by the politicians!?!? As no, it will not.

A fact of the matter is that many, if not all of the web admins who have "blacked" out their pages, are living in a complete dream world where they seem to think that everyone in the world will be effected by the blackouts, when really, its just the usual users who know of their sites...

im starting to rant, fact is that protests are meant to cause some sort of hassle, negative reaction, slow down the people who are making decisions as a way to make them think ... the problem here is these politicians dont have a clue about the internet, so taking a few sites down for a day is not going to make the slightest bit of difference!

now, if it was twitter, cnn, facebook, msn, google and so forth that was blacked out it would be a completly different story and a protest that actualy makes an impact on the decision makers... but sadly it is not!

seriously dude ... most stories ive seen from infowars comes back to the fact that we are all going to end up with ID cards, RFID chips implanted and so on ... take what ever alex jones and his cronys say with a major pinch of salt. (mainly because he is a complete sensationalist who makes his money by being sensationalist.)

Something funny just happened...I went to the break room for a bite to eat and a colleague of mine instantly went on a rant about SOPA, Wikipedia, and how Harper should stop kissing Obama's behind, especially about our Internet freedoms. I nodded in agreement and let him know I agree.

Also, the local paper wasn't issued today. There are no new stories since yesterday on their website either. The person in the break room blames this on the whole SOPA thing. I'm not sure if it's related but he did raise some good points.

I'm just glad I don't depend on the local news since it's all garbage anyways.

Political Fallout

Originally posted by boaby_phet
The initial plan to black out the web was all well and good, but the thing is the sites that are taking up the cause will do absolutely nothing to sway the opinion of the politicians who are trying to have SOPA/PIPA passed as law.

The protest actions may not sway the legislators involved directly, but they will definitely affect users of the Internet who may not have been aware of SOPA/PIPA and the threats they pose.

Money is the mother's milk of politics, and is what is driving SOPA/PIPA in the first place, but politicians who don't get elected have no power, and with U.S. elections coming up in November, anyone who supports these bills against the wishes of their constituencies risks losing office.

Granted, not everyone involved is up for re-election this year, but even those who aren't will find themselves feeling awful lonely if opposition to SOPA/PIPA finds its way into the polls.

Whether it does or not is an open question, but as enticing as all that MPAA/RIAA lobbying money is, it loses a lot of its appeal if it comes at the price of losing office.

Time will tell.