SOPA blackout = Success

Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday. In a particularly severe blow from Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously sponsors of the Protect IP Act.

PIPA Support Collapses

A notable number of senators and representatives have withdrawn or are considering withdrawing their support for SOPA or PIPA. My representative has withdrawn his support.

Today, between Facebook, Twitter, Google, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Occupy, Anonymous, and many other groups and websites, we were able to accomplish something great. Granted, SOPA is still not GONE, only postponed, but I see this as a victory nonetheless.

I saw so many of my friends actually speak out about something they cared about today, and it was truly inspirational. Thank you, everyone. (:

The people United.

reply to post by nihonjindesu08


YES!! I was so PISSED today trying to look something up with all of the blackouts!!

We're beyond the age of no internet! That sucked, and I sent an email to every one of my representatives today!!

NO SOPA! Crooks!!!

The outcry has been pretty astounding. Especially considering the NDAA passed with hardly a peep. Ah well, can't win em all I guess.

reply to post by MeesterB


Maybe, maybe not.

I saw a decent number of people that posted about NDAA when it happened, nothing compared to today of course. But it has been building up for some time now. Honestly, I think since Occupy started and linked soo many like-minded people up socially around the country & world.

The other thing is that censoring pictures, statuses, logos, etc tends to get people's attention really well. It just worked well for spreading the word, NDAA didn't have quite the strategy like that.. If that makes sense.

I was getting ready to cash in on my "I couldn't do my research paper because the internet was down" excuse.

reply to post by dymiox


I wasn't able to access the skyrim wiki and felt kinda peeved. The "I can't do my research paper" thing makes me laugh because you are using wikipedia for a paper, which is a big no-no in academia.

Originally posted by MeesterB
reply to post by dymiox

 

I wasn't able to access the skyrim wiki and felt kinda peeved. The "I can't do my research paper" thing makes me laugh because you are using wikipedia for a paper, which is a big no-no in academia.

Sure you can, I graduated a few years ago

I think Facebook and Twitter finally served a good purpose today.

It was all for show. This whole thing with SOPA, it was a battle of corporations not freedoms. If it passed Google and other major sites would get a dent in their profits, and never stand between a company and their profits. Not to mention the Opposition to it. Any congressman that passed it would be committing a political suicide, and the companies backing obviously didn't have deep enough pockets to make it worth it.

Same thing is going to happen to PIPA.

Originally posted by nihonjindesu08

Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday. In a particularly severe blow from Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously sponsors of the Protect IP Act.

PIPA Support Collapses

A notable number of senators and representatives have withdrawn or are considering withdrawing their support for SOPA or PIPA. My representative has withdrawn his support.

Today, between Facebook, Twitter, Google, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Occupy, Anonymous, and many other groups and websites, we were able to accomplish something great. Granted, SOPA is still not GONE, only postponed, but I see this as a victory nonetheless.

I saw so many of my friends actually speak out about something they cared about today, and it was truly inspirational. Thank you, everyone. (:

The people United.

i was under the impression that this was shelved 3-4 days ago...
this massive protest today has annoyed me...

i mean,
a bill is rejected by the white house, shelved by the senate, so the internet protest to get the rejected bill rejected, and then after the protest, claim victory, because of the protest???

am i missing something here???

reply to post by baphomet420


They said they would come back with a tweaked/modified bill, that's why. It's not over.

reply to post by nihonjindesu08


Three members have recalled their votes.. I'd say a "partial success" is more realistic. Yes it's a step but a small one. Ultimately there's a chance the bill will still pass. Remember the people have a voice, voices can be ignored but it does show that there are some who are listening. Only because they want the votes of the voices.

As I said.. it's a step and in the right direction finally.

reply to post by nihonjindesu08


Guess you kids are too young to remember the days before internet. We were creative in those days, simplified transmissions over good old 14.4 and an agreed upon frequency.

I used to keep an open link on the CB band with my best friend. GPZ and Renegade BBS Software. The days of freedom, before the CIA ragulated all transmissions through internic. Fact not conspiracy.

AX
FTNWO

Originally posted by MeesterB
reply to post by dymiox

 

I wasn't able to access the skyrim wiki and felt kinda peeved. The "I can't do my research paper" thing makes me laugh because you are using wikipedia for a paper, which is a big no-no in academia.

HURRR unless you cite the sources that wiki does. L 2 wikipedia.

e2a: I am also impressed with the internet today.

reply to post by AlphaExray


I remember the days before the net.. Not that I am an old man or anything, I had a base station CB that I used to keep on constantly. I remember the good old BBS's.
The internet changed the world. It changed speech and freedom forever. And it will continue to do so, especially if SOPA isn't passed it will show that we can still stand united against those who wish to take away our liberties.

reply to post by nihonjindesu08
oh yes that should have been part of the NDAA act SOPA put it, that would have not gone well for TPTB now would it, all because you would not be able to email or Google, Yahoo or wiki nor media it.

Originally posted by MeesterB
The outcry has been pretty astounding. Especially considering the NDAA passed with hardly a peep. Ah well, can't win em all I guess.

That is what utterly pissed me off today. Google, Wiki, and tons of others decided to make this their blackout/protest day. What good does it do to have a free internet if accessing the information can have you labeled a terrorist and detained indefinitely?

The truth is that SOPA would hurt their profits. So, they took action. This was not about caring for humanity or "the world's largest library." It was about protecting the bottom line and the CEO's paycheck. So, forgive me for not really being impressed by the sudden out cry from these companies.

So when SOPA passes anyways, against all seeming sanity or logic, will that finally wake up more people? I can't believe people got all in a huff over the internet, but not against indefinite detention! Shows priorities huh?

Some companies complain publicly, while of course being overall owned and controlled by people who support this. The elite support the coming hard police state, and at this point they have no choice but to plow on, engines full. Good luck all.

While I think that the "outcry" from Google, etc was great, I also was surprised by how many of my friends on FB, etc, participated by changing their profile pictures & updating statuses to get the word out.

THIS is why I say it was a success. People I have never seen get involved in these sorts of things before, did. & It was wonderful. (:

reply to post by nihonjindesu08


where do you start and where do you end?...i think i could write a short book on my opinions on this issue.
i would not be surprised to tell younger people in years to come that "it all started when the u.s. tried to control the internet,then tried to police other countries that protested,ww3 started as protests over free music and free political comment" if we consider the internet a "cyber nation" then if it is annexed by any one power it will affect more people than were involved when germany did similar in the late thirties.N.B. i dont need reminded that people died in ww2 i am just drawing a comparison of sorts.

I think the protest was a double-edged sword. Yes, we delayed the votes... to a time when no one will be thinking about them anymore. There is no guarantee that these same bills, or bills with different names and the same meanings, will not be put forth in the future and passed with little to no complaint. Of course, good ol' capitalism may indeed ensure that Google/Wikipedia/etc do not let that happen, which is one reason why this was a good thing to me as well: because lots of people got involved, lots of websites big and small got involved, and it gave me hope that big companies may do the right thing sometimes, even if it was just for profit for themselves... it was inspiring to so many people and people I didn't think cared about anything were going insane about it on Facebook yesterday.

Another bad thing that I think came from this, however, was the retaliatory "Megaupload" seizure. Clearly, they are saying to us, "It doesn't matter what you want, what you say, or even what big companies like Wikipedia and Google want: we're still in control here." It worries me that our government thinks it has the rights to do these things regardless of the enormous public outcry. Perhaps the people who protested SOPA and PIPA will also act out against these blatant grabs of power... and perhaps they won't.

Either way, though, regardless of any damage, if any, the protest may have caused, I think that the fact that a great many people got involved in protest was a good thing. And, it proves that Congress is reliant on our votes and support, and that we really do have influence on them. The problem is getting people to care, which, yesterday, we did. That is something.